


Silence

by v_iolet



Series: Silence AU [1]
Category: GOT7, SHINee, 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Aftermath of Violence, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Cute Jeon Jungkook, Declarations Of Love, Developing Relationship, Established Relationship, Falling In Love, First Kiss, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gun Violence, Gunshot Wounds, Hurt Jeon Jungkook, Hurt Park Jimin, I Tried, I don't do that, Idiots in Love, Intimacy, Jeon Jungkook Is a Sweetheart, Kissing, M/M, Multi, No Sex, No Smut, OT7, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Please Don't Hate Me, Polyamory, Protective Bangtan Boys, Skinship, Threats of Violence, Violence, they are all together
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-13
Updated: 2018-07-23
Packaged: 2019-03-30 22:41:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 40,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13961607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/v_iolet/pseuds/v_iolet
Summary: "I've found peace in your violence,Can't tell me there's no point in trying,I'm at one, and I've been quiet for too long."|| or ||Jungkook never thought that he'd find peace in the arms and hearts of six gang members, but it seems that that's exactly what life had planned for him.





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Trigger Warning: Mentions of Abuse, Minor Character Death, Violence, Swearing

“Tell the others to not mess this up, alright? It’s a simple get in, take out the target, get rid of the evidence situation. I’m sure not even _you_ idiots can mess that up, correct?”

The voice of his leader continued to lecture through the phone, and Hoseok had to use all of his strength to not simply throw the damn thing down the street just to get him to shut up. This was not their first rodeo, and it sure as hell wasn’t going to be their last, so Namjoon seriously needed to stop worrying. That was Jin’s job anyway.

  
“Don’t let Yoongi hear you call him that, Joon,” he taunted, not caring that he could hear the ‘respect your elders’ tone slowly creeping into the others’ voice. “He might scorch your hair.”

  
“Don’t push me, Hoseok,” Namjoon warned through the tiny speakers. “You know just what nightmares I can make you see when you get back home.” Ah, he loved it when Namjoon tried to be threatening.

  
Hoseok merely grinned. “Gosh, Joonie. I’m simply quaking in my boots,” he replied, holding back mild laughter. When he heard the elder sigh, he straightened up a little bit, trying to act serious for once. “Don’t worry babe, we’ll all be fine,” he reassured with a sudden soothing tone. “All three of us will return with a minimal amount of damage taken. Besides, Tae will literally kill me if we get any blood on his Gucci jacket.”

  
He figured he’d succeeded in distracting Namjoon from his unnecessary worry, as he heard a few huffs of laughter resonate through the phone against his ear. “I don’t know why he always insists on wearing that for missions. It’s bound to get destroyed one day. Then what’ll he do?”

  
“He’ll be forced to wear drab like the rest of us peasants for the remainder of his days,” Hoseok said, stifling a giggle when Taehyung raised a knowing eyebrow at him. “Anyway, we seriously gotta go, babe. I promise we’ll be quick, as safe as possible, and tell Jin to put tea on whilst you’re here. I’m fucking starving.”

  
“Greedy,” was his only reply. “Will do. Please stay out of immediate danger, and for the life of me, at least _try_ and prevent Yoongi from burning the whole estate down. It was unbelievably difficult to cover that up last time. Oh! And don’t forget- “

  
“Yeah, god, Taehyung’s just ran into the house. I’m gonna need to go after him. Love you, Joonie! I expect dinner when we return, bye!” He hastily hung up before another ten-minute speech ensued. They’d already wasted enough time as it was because of their leader’s unexpected phone call.

  
With the call ended, Taehyung decided to now saunter up to him. “Why am I the one getting the blame?!” he ranted. “It’s not my fault he’s such a worrier! He’s gonna go mad at me when we get back now, thinking I ran in unprepared.”

  
“Well, were you thinking about doing that?” Tae opened his mouth to retaliate, but then decided against it, simply pouting his lips in a cute fashion and crossing his arms. Hoseok laughed again, reaching over to press a quick kiss on Taehyung’s unsuspecting mouth. “There you go then.”

  
“Are you two quite done?” Both of the members turned around to face their third party, seeing Yoongi leaning delicately on the bricked wall with one foot resting against it, his arms crossed.

  
Taehyung bounced back, pulling Yoongi by one hand towards him and grappling him in a hug, a gesture Hoseok was positive was not appreciated by the other. “Come on, Suga. You can’t tell me you don’t want any of this,” Hoseok said, motioning to his body.

  
Yoongi looked him up and down with a bored expression, wriggling his way out of Tae’s hold. “To be frank, I’m not sure why I even agreed to go out with both of you in the first place,” he answered, smirking as their faces fell before making his way over to the front door of their target’s house.

  
Taehyung followed suit, whining as he did so. “Ah, hyung, you’re so mean! I know you don’t mean that!” Then he also placed a kiss upon Yoongi’s cheek, a grin finally appearing on his face as he did so, appearing ready.

  
“Shut up and let’s get this over with,” Yoongi growled, and Hoseok saw him duck his head down to hide the red blush that had taken over his face.

  
Smiling once more, Hoseok wandered over to where his two partners stood, nodding to the both of them with certainty written across his features. They knew what this particular job entailed, and they knew that this was the point where they had to allow their darker personas to take over; enhance every nerve to pull this off with unheeded efficiency.

  
“Remember,” Yoongi muttered, eyeing his boyfriends calmly, a fire lighting up behind his eyes. “Stick to the plan, and only use our nicknames in front of the client. He’s going to know just how wrong it was to try and mess with us.”

  
“What are we waiting for then, _Suga_ ,” Taehyung said, all playfulness devoid from his voice. Moments like these really made Hoseok painfully aware of how different they all could be in a flash, as he watched his youngest lover smirk with a deadly glint in his eyes, pupils looking more black and complete malice spread across his face, ready to unleash pure hell.

  
He’d never admit it, but goddamn it was hot.

  
Yoongi nodded his head towards Hoseok, and they began with their task. He closed his eyes, willing his molecules to begin vibrating; they shook faster and faster until the whole world was a complete blur, and with excitement coursing through him, he carefully advanced through the wooden door, barely making a sound.

  
Hoseok loved using his ability, he genuinely did. He loved the feeling of something solid unnaturally flowing through his flesh. Loved the stamina it required and the slight danger it brought upon him. Loved watching with a bitten smirk as everything thrown his way merely passed through him with little pain.

  
He loved it all. He’d never trade it for anything else.

  
The inside of the house was nowhere near as presentable as the outside looked. Bottles of alcohol were strewn across every inch of the living room- on the table, down the middle of the couch, broken pieces discarded on the floor. Hoseok grimaced at the smell of rotten food wafting in from the kitchen, and something else he couldn’t quite place, rubbing his nose silently before turning around and unlocking the door for the other two to enter as well.

  
“I’ll never get tired of seeing you do that, J,” Taehyung said the minute he stepped inside, one corner of his mouth slightly turned up to show some pearly white teeth. He watched the minute the scent hit them as well, Taehyung grunting under his breath and Yoongi’s eyes narrowing into dangerous slits.

  
“Be on your guard,” he whispered, voice steely. “That’s blood.”

  
None of them were a stranger to the sight of the substance, it was only natural in their line of work, but the fact that they couldn’t see it and yet still smell it all around them set a bad feeling deep within Hoseok’s gut.

  
Something wasn’t right in this house.

  
They moved on with practised silence, steps strategically placed so as to minimise their presence in the room and coordinated themselves accordingly, making sure they were spread out and had protection on each other’s backs, however still blocking all of the exits.

  
Heavy feet could be heard above them in one of the bedrooms, and in less than a minute thuds protruded down the staircase, a slight whistle accompanying the journey. How Hoseok wanted to wipe whatever look was on this man’s face.

  
Their target finally spotted them as he arrived at the bottom, whole body stilling at once, any cheerfulness he’d had dispersed off of his face. Maybe he knew what they’d come for. His entire posture became one of anger, and he advanced quickly on the nearest person he saw, which just so happened to be Hoseok.

  
Yep, he certainly knew all right.

  
Smirking (as if he could get an advantage on one of _them_ was ridiculous), Hoseok whipped out an army knife he had stashed in his belt, twisting the client’s arm painfully behind his back, and with skills quicker than the eyes could follow, he roughly kicked him against the closest wall. He was feeling extra pissed off right now, so with a slight huff, he stabbed the man with the knife, so hard it went straight through his shoulder and stuck into the wallpaper behind him, rendering him trapped like a fly under their power.

  
“You little shits!” the man yelled, face contorted to one of pain, and Yoongi laughed deeply.

  
“Now, now,” he purred, strolling mindlessly across the room, eyes dark and unhinged. “ _You’re_ the one who never followed up with your payment, Mr Jeon. We’ve merely come to take back what’s rightfully ours. I’m sure you understand.”

  
Taehyung chuckled. “Aw, come on Suga. Tone it down a bit- can’t you see he’s scared.”

  
“I’m not scared, you piece of cra- "

  
His statement was cut short, as Tae’s eyes immediately changed colour, now glowing harshly with the glint of deep crimson, so penetrating in the dimply lit room he began to look like the devil himself, shaking everyone down to their very core.

  
As Taehyung stalked forwards, the target changed, knees buckling with sudden fear and bones shivering, pupils dilated and breath quickening.

  
He rasped out, barely managing to calm the stutter that had appeared in his voice. “Y-you have abilities. Fuck… fuck! Nobody told me this!”

  
“They shouldn’t have to,” Tae snarled, spitting in the man’s face, corneas flashing in anger. “You say you’re gonna pay us, then you. Fucking. Pay us.”

  
Yoongi stepped forward, placing a warning hand on Tae’s shoulder as a code to back off for a second. He complied, but not without another sneer and a slight twist of the knife that made the client cringe.

  
Suga stopped, lighting his right fist with fire the colour of the sun, and allowed them to gently caress the victim’s arm, a steady burn building on the flesh. “Here’s what we’re going to do,” he spoke, as if he was having an everyday conversation and not in the midst of torture. “Either you tell us where our money is, or you get to experience the consequences we have planned first-hand. And I’m positively sure you won’t like what they are.”

  
“You’re disgusting,” the man spat, twisting his face further as Hoseok embedded the knife deeper through his shoulder.

  
“Maybe so,” Yoongi drawled, slowly coming nearer to the target until he was face to face with him, a cold stare resonant in his eyes. “But you’re also the stupid fuck who decided that cheating us out of our money was a smart idea. So really, you’re the loser today. And every other day for that matter.”

  
And without further delay, he ignited his index and middle fingers with deadly blue flames, immediately sticking them in the horrified eyes of their target without hesitation. They all watched with sick satisfaction as his face agonisingly slowly melted away within his grasp, a silent scream permanently etched on his face.

  
Only when they knew he was dead, did Hoseok allow himself to get mad.

  
“Suga!” he shouted indignantly, releasing his grip on the knife and allowing the corpse to limply dangle off of the wall. “We were only supposed to kill him _after_ he told us where the money was! Key word: after.”

  
Yoongi shrugged, wiping the excess flesh off of his hand. “He was annoying me.”

  
Taehyung laughed loudly at that, jumping Yoongi from behind to grasp him into a one-man cuddle again, eyes returned back to their usual hue. “That’s so like you, Suga. Although to be fair, now we have to spend more time actually searching for the cash in this dump, or Namjoon will get mad at us when we get back. We’ve really gotta work on your anger, don’t we, hot-head?”

  
He laughed again as Yoongi took a swipe at him.

  
Hoseok groaned at the prospect of additional work simply because _someone_ couldn’t contain his obvious sadism. He whacked both of his boyfriends lightly to get them to stop bickering with each other, determined to get this done quickly and with little fuss so they could get the hell out of there. The bad feeling from earlier hadn’t budged despite the owners’ recent demise.

  
“Tae, you search down here, me and Yoongi will check upstairs. Yell if you find anything and take anything that look’s valuable.” When they both stood there for a second, he raised his voice in warning. “Move!”

  
They all got to work diligently, Taehyung moving deeper into the house whilst Hoseok led Suga upwards, pointing to the first bedroom they came across, letting Yoongi kick it down with little effort so they could search through it.

  
They both checked everywhere they could see. Wardrobes, underneath loose floorboards, behind paintings and in pictures. The only things Hoseok found were a couple of coins and a silver bracelet stuffed inside a coat pocket, which he took.

  
“I’ll go check another room,” Yoongi muttered in his direction, motioning to move.

  
"Oi! One of you get down here, now!" Tae called from deeper into the house, signalling his immediate attention. Hoseok sighed, abandoning the chest of drawers he was currently rustling through, leaving Yoongi to continue searching up there before following where he heard the younger's voice coming from.

  
His feet lead him to a set of rickety stairs, descending downwards to where he could faintly make out Taehyung's lean figure waiting not so patiently at the bottom of the steps in front of another wooden door, bolted up tight from the outside.

  
"What is it, V?" he asked, jogging down to meet the other. Tae was staring intently at the barrier to the basement like it held all of the secrets of the world behind it. Knowing Taehyung, he probably believed it did.

  
He gestured to the door, grinning. "I bet there's something special locked up in there. People don't tend to double padlock their basement unless they're hiding something, and knowing our client, this could be where he stashed all of his owed money."

  
To give the younger some credit, it wasn't such a farfetched idea (unlike some of the things that usually came out of his mouth), and so Hoseok decided to allow himself to divulge in whatever gears were turning within Tae's mind and play along. Just because he was bored, and because it was Taehyung.

  
"So, you want me to phase through and check it out?" he asked him, shaking his head when Tae nodded vigorously, eyes lighting up as he realised Hoseok was actually considering doing it. "Ugh, fine, but only because we need to do a full scoop of this place. It'll just be a quick look, though, so don't get your hopes up." But he smiled none the less, ruffling Tae's hair.

  
Twisting to the door, he focused his mind again, feeling the familiar tingle of shifting atoms run through his very being, separating himself apart nano-piece by nano-piece as he stepped through the hard material, forcing them back together like super glue once he'd reached the other side successfully.

  
The room was dark, uncharacteristically so, and Hoseok had to squint to see the few feet in front of him as his eyes adjusted to the sudden lack of colour. From what he could make out, there wasn't anything in there, no hidden money or stacked up bills, which was odd because Taehyung's instincts were normally bang on.

  
He took a step forward, cringing as it made a rather loud creak on the rough floorboards, trying to inspect as best as he could in the never-ending shroud of black surrounding him. But that's when he heard it.

  
A small, foreign, _whimper_.

  
Hoseok abruptly halted, ears twitching from the one thing he knew definitely _shouldn't_ have come from the basement, turning his head around very slowly to the wall furthest away from himself.

  
He took out his phone cautiously, quickly turning the flashlight on and shining it towards the corner of the room, where he was positive the sound originated from. The glow immediately hit something, gradually illuminating what the darkness was concealing, and Hoseok nearly threw up at what he could now see. Or should he say, _who_ he could now see.

  
"Shit."

  
It was a kid. He looked no older than 16 (from what Hoseok could tell, the boy was curled up in a foetal position), skinny arms curled tightly around his legs, trying to force himself to melt into the wall, which wasn’t working very well. His body was draped in a raggedy old t-shirt and loose pants, only just covering his thighs, but the pale skin he could see was littered with bruises of varying shapes and colours, cuts and scratches criss-crossing over themselves at random intervals.

  
What hit Hoseok the hardest was his face. Wide doe eyes stared back into his own, open and displaying the purest amount of deadly fear within their depths. His frame was shaking harder than a baby out in a blizzard, and his tiny mouth hung open as if attempting to gather any form of oxygen into his lungs.

  
Hoseok immediately held up his arms in a surrender motion, crouching down slowly to the kid’s height and softening the look of disgust on his face to one of openness. “Hey,” he whispered softly, not missing the immediate flinch the boy gave at the sound of his voice. “What are you doing here?”

  
He tried to cautiously shuffle forwards a step, but when the shivering of the kid’s body increased dramatically, he stopped, opting to instead reach one arm out closer and keep it there until the other was comfortable enough to hold his hand.

  
The boy hesitated, but then opened his mouth a little wider, inhaling a quick breath, as if preparing to reply to the question.

  
Then Tae started banging on the door.

  
“What’s taking you so long?” he shouted. “You found the money?” The kid crumpled further into himself at the harsh sounds, delicate hands covering his face and dark bangs falling like a curtain over his fingers, hiding himself from view whilst tiny mews of pain escaped his throat.

  
Hoseok had never wanted to slap Taehyung for his unbelievably terrible timing more so than now. The sight of the kid made him want- no, _need_ \- to scoop him up into his chest and cuddle him until the younger knew that no harm would be bestowed upon him. Not if Hoseok could help it.

  
“Tae! Quit it!” he yelled back. The pounding quieted down, returning the basement to relentless silence. The boy quivered at his raised tone, bare toes curling inwards and scratching harshly on the wooden floor. “No, no,” he said, lowering his voice once again, face falling. “I’m sorry, I really am. I had to get that idiot outside to shut up. I wasn’t yelling at you- I promise.”

  
At a very steady pace, the younger lowered his hands, those dark pupils shining out under the flashlight once again, making Hoseok’s heart thud heavier in his chest. God, this kid was gorgeous.

  
He licked his lips, taking a shuddering breath, chest heaving. “W-where’s my d-dad?” The voice was like honey, so smooth and quiet he barely caught the words said, but as he did his eyes narrowed, brain making all the necessary connections to figure it out.

  
The corpse upstairs. The finger shaped bruises on his skin. The absolute fear radiating off of him.

  
Suddenly, for the first time ever, Hoseok wanted to change his ability. He wished he had the power to resurrect that deadbeat motherfucker upstairs, simply to make him suffer a ten times worse fate the second time around. He wanted to watch the life drain from his eyes drip by fucking drip.

  
They went too easy on him.

  
“Kid,” he murmured, keeping his tone light and comforting. “Your dad, he’s dead.”

  
The boy’s posture stilled, tilting his head slightly to the side at his words. “Dead?” Hoseok nodded, still unsure as to how he would react to the news. “You’re sure?” Another nod. “Who killed him?” All questions were spoken with a hushed expression.

  
Hoseok took a deep breath. “We did.”

  
The revelation appeared to shock the kid more than the news of his father’s demise. He looked like he wanted to say something else to Hoseok, mouth opening and closing a few times, before he gave up with a mini slump.

  
Hoseok waited; he didn’t want to rush him. He didn’t know what he was feeling or how he now viewed the man in front of him, but nevertheless he refused to leave this kid like this. He’d wait all day if he had to.

  
Then, without warning, a dainty, ashen hand very guardedly reached out to Hoseok’s thicker one, which had rested a few inches in front of him the whole time. When the pale fingertips brushed over his middle finger like a ghost, Hoseok could feel an electric current shoot up the full length of his arm, kickstarting every fibre in his being the same way using his ability would.

  
That was when Hoseok knew he wanted to keep this child.

  
The door to the basement unexpectedly flew off its hinges, crashing into the opposite wall with a loud bang and startling both occupants of the room out of the comfort they’d accumulated.

  
The kid screamed, leaping up into the air and promptly passing out from the shock, his body unable to handle the onslaught of stress. Hoseok nearly had a heart attack, thinking the younger had just died on the spot.

  
“Hoseok! There you are!” Tae cried, hands ruffling through his hair in relief. “I had to get Suga to bloody drop kick the door down because I was that worried! You’ve been in here for ages! What’ve you been- “

  
“Who is that?” The voice was more commanding this time, and he knew it was Suga. At the light pressure of a hand suddenly on his shoulder, his thought was confirmed.

  
“Who is what?” Taehyung asked, moving over, and gasping at the sudden sight. All three of them crowded around the small, broken body unconscious beneath them, like a flock protecting its baby. “Oh god.”

  
“What the fuck,” Yoongi said.

  
Tae reached out without a thought, doing what Hoseok had wanted to do earlier and scooped the younger into his arms, the boy’s head lolling on top of his shoulder. “Fucking hell… he’s beautiful.”

  
Yoongi whacked him, earning a cry of annoyance in response. “Is that seriously the only thing you’re thinking of?”

  
“Not necessarily, I was just pointing out the obvious. Come on, I know you’re thinking it too.” A lack of a retort told Hoseok that Tae was right about that, and he couldn’t help himself when he laughed a little.

  
Tae adjusted his hold on the younger. “What do we do with him?” he questioned, using one hand to stroke the skin of the bare forearm that was dangling down to the floor.

  
Hoseok thought for a moment, a plan accumulating within his mind. “We’ve gotta take him with us. It’s as simple as that,” he eventually answered, looking at the faces of surprise he received. “What? We just killed his bastard of a father, so either we take him, or he dies here. It’s our choice.”

  
Yoongi sucked in a breath. “That explains it.” At the raised eyebrow Hoseok gave him- Tae too caught up in admiring the kid’s face to look up- he elaborated. “I found some records upstairs of the target having a son, but I just assumed he’d moved out or something because there was no trace of him living here. But, clearly,” he said, gesturing to the unconscious bundle. “I was wrong.”

  
All three of them exchanged looks with each other, almost guessing the others’ thoughts without speaking. Despite not even knowing the youngers’ name, they were all clearly attached already, and they didn’t want to let him go. Which left only one option.

  
“Okay, let’s go then,” Tae said, showing off his signature boxy smile, already making his way out of the basement and back up the stairway. Hoseok and Yoongi chuckled lightly before following in pursuit, occasionally glancing at the boy in their hold.

  
In the clear light (and not the crappy one from an iPhone 5) they could now see the true extent of his injuries. Horrid, black bruises shaped around the kid’s jawline, indicating strangulation, and as his shirt rode up slightly they could make out healing welt marks snaking their way up his stomach. His left leg was also facing an odd angle, bent awkwardly, and it was clear it was broken. The sight made them sick to their stomachs, Taehyung grasping him a little bit closer for protection.

  
As they reached the final few steps, the boy began to moan slightly, catching all of their immediate attention, and innocent eyes fluttered open as if awakening from a dream. When he caught sight of Taehyung carrying him bridal style away from his apparent prison, his panic shot up, and he rolled unceremoniously onto the floor and flittered away from them against the steps, limping heavily.

  
His breathing was erratic, and even without medical experience Hoseok knew that if he didn’t calm down quickly he’d merely injure himself further. But he didn’t know how to show the younger that they truly didn’t want to harm him, especially as it was becoming increasingly obvious that pain was all he was used to.

  
Tae marched forwards without hesitation, reaching out his arms to place around the boy’s shoulders lovingly, and Hoseok felt the urge to kick him for his insensitivity. However, the kid was now still, body laxing slowly down the banister, and Taehyung easily caught him again, carefully sliding him around until he was safe on his lap. When Hoseok saw Tae’s eyes, it clicked straight away.

  
They were a heavenly blue, electric and as sweet as the sky, Hoseok having seen them turn that shade enough times to know he was instilling waves of relaxation and calmness throughout the boy’s body as he smiled down at the younger.

  
Doe eyes blinked back up sleepily at them, mainly keeping contact with Taehyung’s own as he’d seen them transform- felt the effect- and a long, adorable sigh emitted from his lips. “Y-you have abilities,” he whispered softly, exactly like his father had beforehand, except the situations couldn’t be more different. “You’re…just like…me.” With that, his eyes closed once more, bones dropping their full weight onto Taehyung who accepted it openly, snuggling the boy up deeper into his chest now that he was passed out again.

  
They all stayed there silent, allowing the revelation to sink in. “Did he… just say what I think he said?” Yoongi asked quietly from behind them. No one answered; they just continued to stare down at the gift they had been presented, wondering how on earth any of this had happened to _them_ of all people.

  
“He did,” Hoseok replied, carding his fingers gently through the mat of dark locks on the boy’s head. “Let’s leave. We need to get Jin to check him out.” At Yoongi’s smirk he groaned, grasping hold of his hand tightly. “Not like that, you mint ball. Just… let’s go.”

  
Trekking out of the house, Yoongi sent a flash of fire at the dead body he now despised, watching it quickly disintegrate before his eyes (Namjoon had said to get rid of the evidence after all), wishing he could do so much more before they had to leave.

  
But then they were clambering into the car, Yoongi pulling away in the driver’s seat, catching glimpses of the peaceful way the kid slept in Tae’s arms and the absolute lovesick way Tae was looking down at him and how Hoseok had one hand resting on the boy’s thigh just to ensure he was still there and that he was protected.

  
And Yoongi knew. He knew in the way his heart burned like the fire he created on his very own fingertips whenever he caught himself staring at the younger.

  
He knew that no matter how much Namjoon or possibly Jin or maybe even Jimin might object to this… development- absolutely none of them were letting him go.

  
And that was a promise.


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning: Mentions of Abuse, Gun Violence, Swearing, Blood

They were late. His boys were _never_ late.

Jin’s feet were furiously tapping away on top of the wooden floorboards, creating a constant, insistent rhythm in an attempt to distract his mind away from the heavy thumping of his heart, his hands wringing with mild worry as time gradually ticked by.

Most people who came across their group usually viewed him as the calmest of the 6, cooking their meals and happily cleaning up after them- as if he was surrounded by a ragtag team of four years olds instead of an ensemble of fully grown men (plus a few older teenagers).

Which to be fair, for the most part, was completely the case.

But the thing nobody ever suspected of him was that when it came down to their safety, Jin transformed into one of the most terrifying and vicious people you could ever meet, bound to protection- and so he never took it lightly when one of the younger's decided to test their luck by staying out later than intended without so much as a phone call to say they're safe. Let alone when three of them did it simultaneously.

He checked his watch again. They were now 21 minutes and 46 seconds late. 47. 48. 49.

Therefore, when the noise of the vehicle finally rolled up outside of the building, tyres squealing to a stop within moments, Jin immediately knew just what words he was going to be having with the three of them before they even stepped foot inside of the house.

Standing in front of the door, armoured with his best unimpressed face and a frown tugging at his lips, he waited for his boyfriends to drag themselves up to face him; they probably knew he was going to be mad at them by now, and were attempting to avoid the inevitable.

However, what he wasn't expecting was for the opening to the apartment to suddenly fly open on its hinges, Yoongi storming inside straight away like he hadn't just committed an act of assault against their innocent doorframe. He was followed promptly by a very flustered Hoseok and Taehyung, the latter of which appeared to be carrying a small bundle of dead weight in his arms, looking down at it as if the thing had descended from heaven itself.

Needless to say, Jin was more than a little shocked.

Before he could utter a word in question, Tae stared up at him with a look he rarely ever expressed on his face- pure, unyielding fear- stuttering out a desperate, "Help him, please," as the only explanation to the situation.

Now that Jin was able to grasp a better view of the object in Tae's arms, he gasped quietly at the heavy bruising coating the child's skin and the deep red cuts appearing to and fro as he was lifted up.

He could see that both Hoseok and Taehyung were slowly descending into panic, and Yoongi looked just about ready to destroy something as his eyes raged in murderous silence, so Jin took a deep breath and allowed his maternal instincts to take over his looming anxiety, charging control of the situation.

"Hoseok, Suga," he ordered calmly, gaining their immediate attention. "Go to the bathroom, now. Fill up the bathtub with lukewarm water for me, and ensure that you don't make it too hot, okay? I'll ask for the full story later." He then moved forwards to inspect the damage done to the crippled teenager curled into his boyfriend's torso, hands delicately hovering over the damaged flesh. "Tae, love, I need you to come with me. Do you think you can do that?"

Tae nodded intensely, tears brimming on the ridges of his eyelids. "Just help him, hyung," he pleaded.

He leaned over and planted a soft kiss upon Taehyung’s forehead, calming him slightly. “I will, baby. Don’t you worry about that. Now, come on.”

Jin lead the younger towards the sofa in their living room, having to momentarily pry the teenager out of Tae’s arms as he protested against letting him go. But after some soothing words from the eldest, and possibly a stern look or two, he relented and loosened his grip, allowing Jin to be transferred the full weight of the boy.

He carefully placed him down across the furniture to take a better look at just what they were dealing with, and he couldn’t help but notice how light the kid was in his arms the minute he had hold of him. Too light for a typical boy his age (16? 17?) he was sure, which only spurred more questions in his already racing mind.

The exterior flesh he could see was marred with damage both old and new, bruises at varying degrees of healing due to their colour but seeming to touch every clear bit of skin that was visible to both present. Cuts long and precise lined their way from the boy’s ankles upwards, sneaking their way beneath his pants, and Jin knew that whatever was underneath his clothes was probably going to be far worse than the torture they could already see.

Which is one of the reasons why he didn’t want Taehyung to be here when he took a look, because he knew that he had to do so eventually, and he’d rather do it sooner than later.

He turned a little, gaze melting at the soft and protective nature on Tae’s face (how he’d missed him looking like that), already clicking on to how attached his boys were to this mystery teenager when they barely knew anything about him. “Tae, baby,” he murmured, catching his eyes. “I’m gonna need you to leave for a few minutes, okay? Go help Yoongi and Hobi in the bathroom, alright?”

He’d laced his voice with as much love and compassion as he could muster with the dire situation at hand, but by the way Taehyung’s jaw set firmly at his words, his pupils hardening, he knew that his boyfriend was going absolutely nowhere. No matter what he said or did.

Even still, he tried one last time. “ _Please_ , Tae. I really don’t know what it’s going to look like, but I can guess that it won’t be pretty. I don’t need you to see that.”

He huffed, arms coming to fold across his waist in rebellion. “You’re acting like I haven’t seen worse, Jinnie,” he stated, bending down so that they were on the same level and wrapping his fingers around Jin’s own. “Besides, if that’s the case, then I want to help. You shouldn’t be alone if it’s that bad either, you know.” A quick kiss was placed on his cheek, and Jin couldn’t help but wonder at which point did their little Taehyung become so mature.

He breathed out heavily in acceptance, Taehyung smiling once he knew he’d won their little discussion. Jin knew he had no time to waste, and so let go of Tae’s hand and got to work straight away, shutting his eyes in concentration.

Focusing his energy towards his hands, he inhaled sharply before swiping his palms against one another in a single clean, fluid motion, envisioning surgical scissors within his mind. When he opened up his eyelids once more, the very same pair were lying smoothly across his fingers, waiting to be used.

Without delay, he began chopping away the shirt that encased the teenager, trying his hardest to avoid touching the areas of skin (which proved to be a lot harder than he anticipated). Once the clothing was gone, lying in shreds on the couch, he ignored the full display of torment he could see had been afflicted and turned his attention to the pants instead, starting to cut those away as well.

Despite the agony written behind Taehyung’s eyes at the sight, he still managed to pull a weak smirk at Jin, sending him a wink to momentarily hide his fast forming tears. “He’s only been here for less than 10 minutes, and you’re already trying to get his pants off, huh Jinnie? I thought you had more control than that.”

Jin coughed, biting back a shout at the accusation, but also trying to disguise the rapidly growing laughter in his stomach, focusing his hardest on the work at hand. Trust Tae to try and make light of the situation- it was something they all loved about him (you know, besides everything else).

Eventually the bottoms were removed, and the kid lay on their furniture with only his boxers on, every inch of his skin from his neck downwards affected with some form of torture. Jin tried to ignore the cuts of varying thickness, the bruises of kaleidoscope colours, the finger shaped pressure laced under his chin- but the entire scene was _painful_ and _damaging_ and he just couldn’t stop the water leaking out from his eyes, even as he told himself that he wouldn’t get attached.

Taehyung had stopped his own attempt, a waterfall cascading down his cheeks whilst he gripped the younger’s hand within his own, a frown tugging on his lips. “Who could do this to a _kid_ , hyung?” he asked quietly, pushing back the black locks that had fallen forwards on the boy’s forehead with an extreme amount of care.

Jin simply shook his head, not trusting himself to formulate words at the present moment. His gaze glided along the pale skin, absorbing every inch of it and filing every injury he could see into his mental medical drawer, thinking of the best ways to keep the kid in the least amount of pain as possible when he woke up. He counted a possible 8 wounds that would need stitching on his stomach and legs, sighing when he realised how much crap this kid had taken before being here before him.

He suddenly noticed how the boy’s left leg was facing an odd angle, the kneecap twisted at an unnatural stance, and he blanched.

“Shit,” he cursed, gaining Taehyung’s momentary attention. He moved closer to take a better inspection, sucking in a deep breath. “Ah, god. This is going to need popping back into place before it heals itself up wrong. This is so _fucked up_.”

“Won’t that hurt him, though?” Tae whispered, unconsciously moving himself closer to the kid to protect him from any more pain. Jin was honestly so baffled at how close they were all getting with the younger despite literally knowing nothing about him, except maybe that he’d been through buckets of shit. Maybe it was the way he looked so fragile and small, not so much in height but in posture, like he needed to be protected, that pulled out the instinct in all of them.

It sparked every motherly fibre Jin had in his body on fire.

“It will,” Jin replied, albeit reluctantly. “But, if we don’t do it, it’ll cause him a whole world of bigger pain further down the line. It’s better for him if we do it now.”

Tae still looked hesitant, refusing to remove his entangled fingers from the boy’s, and he clung on desperately, eyes almost pleading.

But Jin refused to budge. “Tae, baby. I need you to trust me on this,” he said, caressing the side of the others’ head with his palm. “I need you to help me manoeuvre him to the bathroom, so we can get all of these cuts cleaned up to prevent infection from settling in, and then you, Yoongi and Hobi will need to hold him down whilst I reset the bone. It won’t be pretty, but it’s necessary, and I need you to be strong for me, babe. Can you do that for me?”

It took a few seconds for his words to sink in for the younger, but eventually Tae looked up at him, soft eyes transformed into steely determination. “Okay, let’s do it.”

Jin smiled, both facing their attention to the passed-out teenager on their couch, eyes contacting each other to hold a silent conversation before distinctly moving to opposite ends, Jin tucking his arms under the boy’s back to lift whilst Taehyung grabbed his legs, mindful of the injured one.

When they lifted, Jin biting down on his lip as he realised again just how _light_ this kid was, he was able to grasp a perfect view of the boy’s back, and he involuntarily let out a mini sob. Taehyung’s head snapped towards him, gaze worried, and Jin merely shook his head in response, not allowing his emotions to get the better of him.

The entirety of the kid’s back was decorated in healed welt marks, either from a whip or a belt (he really couldn’t tell), red in colour and still looking as painful as they probably were when the blows were initially delivered. They were all slightly raised like they hadn’t healed properly, creating a bumpy texture that disrupted the rest of the kid’s smooth skin.

What hurt Jin the most was the only patch of skin that the wounds didn’t touch. Instead of welts, there was a clean carving, the word ‘ _pathetic_ ’ scrawled in block capitals between his shoulder blades, a perfect scar having formed. The whole scene made him want to be physically sick.

Tae had rearranged himself so that he could peek at whatever had shaken the eldest, too curious for his own good, and when he caught sight of the boy’s underside, he froze, hands steadily starting to shake.

“Fuck,” he grimaced, eyes wide and unnerved. “Fuck this. Fuck everything. Fuck, fuck, _fuck_.”

“Tae, calm down,” Jin reprimanded quietly, unable to remove his eyesight from the wording on the teenager’s back. From the redness. From the suffering.

“ _Calm down_ ,” Taehyung seethed, pupils slowly but surely becoming drenched in garnet. Jin could feel his knees begging to buckle as the sudden wave of _pure, dark, unrelenting fear_ hit him in the face as he stared at the younger. He knew Tae was losing control, his ability lashing out as he got angrier, but Jin forced himself to take a quivering breath and maintained eye contact. He knew Taehyung would never purposefully hurt him.

“Baby, I know you’re worried about this kid,” he began, attempting to keep his voice steady. “I know you’re scared for him. I am too, believe me. But allowing your ability to take over isn’t going to help anybody- least of all him- so I need you to calm the actual fuck down and help me clean him up.” Tae’s face softened a bit, a hint of his usual hue returning into his irises. Jin remembered to breathe. “Come on, sweetheart. I can’t do this without you.”

Taehyung inhaled sharply, the emotion clearly written across the entirety of his face as he calmed, gradually returning to his normal self. “Sorry,” he whispered, eyes wide and vulnerable.

“It’s okay,” Jin answered gently, sending him a loving smile. “Let’s get this over with.”

They carefully carried him to the bathroom, both Yoongi and Hoseok waiting impatiently beside the bathtub, that of which they’d filled around two thirds of the way full like instructed. Yoongi was perched on the edge, silently tapping his foot, whilst Hoseok was kneeling on the wooden floor with one hand gliding through the water, an uncharacteristic frown etched upon his face.

When Yoongi spotted them both he instantly moved backwards, pulling Hoseok with him to allow a clear access to the tub, before delicately holding the kid’s head above the water as they slowly lowered him down into it. If he was horrified by the true extent of injuries on the boy, he sure as hell didn’t show it (unlike Hobi who had to turn around for a few minutes to try and compose himself).

Jin, Taehyung and Hoseok set to work carefully cleaning any cuts or scratches that they could see, clumsily shifting around each other, the kid barely even moving as they mindfully washed and cleansed. Yoongi continued to support the younger’s neck, keeping it in place so that only below his chin got wet. Some of his wounds reopened, the water steadily turning pink as blood trickled down his arms.

Taehyung also slowly dribbled some water down atop his head, carefully using some shampoo to clean his hair to the best of his ability, mindful to not use too much of the liquid so that he didn’t get completely soaked from head to toe. He set about with the conditioner as well, moving meticulously so that the water didn’t drip too much into the kid’s face.

Eventually, Jin sighed, wiping his forehead with his arm and leaning back onto his knees. “I think that should be enough,” he said, mildly out of breath. He then glanced at the lower half of the kid, grimacing. “We’re really going to have to tackle that leg.”

All of them halted, looking at the odd angle of the limb they’d actively been avoiding during the disinfecting process. Hoseok gulped. “You want me to hold him down?” he asked quietly.

Jin stared up at him, doubting he could handle what they were about to do. When it came to the people he actively cared about, Hoseok struggled to keep his emotions in check, often paling at the sight of too much blood if it came from those that he knew. “Actually, Hobi, I was hoping you could go and pick out some of Jimin’s clothes for him to wear once we’ve finished? Jimin is one of the smallest out of us, so I think his attire should do for now until we can buy some new clothes for the kid. You think you can do that?”

Hoseok nodded immediately, happy to be of some assistance, and his eyes shone as he ran from the room, tripping over his own feet in the process. Once he was gone, Jin moved himself over to the back end of the bathtub, gripping the boy’s left leg within his hands and assessing the best way to do the task.

“Okay, so I’m going to need to do this quickly and smoothly. That means I’m going to need both of you to hold him down firmly for me.” He looked pointedly at the other two in the room, his voice full of authority. Yoongi promptly leaned forwards and wrapped his arms under the kid’s shoulders, coming to clasp together around the younger’s chest tightly. Taehyung reached into the water and pushed down on his hips, holding them firmly in place so that the others’ movement was limited.

When he received confirmation from his boyfriends that they were ready, Jin sucked in a breath, exhaling loudly. He braced himself, rearranging his hands properly, one clasping just below the kneecap and the other just above.

In reality, it only lasted a few seconds. But for all of those present, it felt more like a lifetime.

Jin pulled, feeling the bone shift beneath his fingers, and ignoring the sudden screaming, he expertly manoeuvred the joint around before locking it back into place, successfully resetting it. And that was it; the ordeal was over.

Except the kid was still screaming.

The minute the bone was moved, the boy was awake, thrashing and crying in a delirious haze. Yoongi used all of his strength to keep to kid tied to the tub, clutching him closer than he thought physically possible, while Tae struggled to maintain his grip on this teenager’s hips, holding him down with all of his might.

Once they were certain that Jin had completed the task, Tae immediately let go and moved himself so that his face was above the boy’s, eyes already tainted metallic blue, ready to calm him down.

But Jin stopped him straight away, yanking him back. “We can’t force him to feel a particular way, Tae. You know that.”

“But he’s hurting!” Taehyung protested, body jerking against Jin’s clasp around his chest. Jin, _let go_.”

“No,” Jin barked, preventing Tae’s attempts of escaping. “Sometimes people need to be allowed to hurt in order to get better, babe. We need to let it pass.” At his words, Taehyung finally stopped struggling, stomach heaving with silent cries.

They both turned their attention to the sobbing boy in the bathtub, Yoongi stroking his hair in an attempt to calm him down. He was sobbing loudly, one hand limply clutching his left leg, and when he spotted Jin and Taehyung staring at him, he only whined harder. “Please, stop it,” he begged, trying to curl into a ball but the unmoved position Yoongi was in was proving it hard for him to do so. “I’ll be good, I promise. Just make it stop. I’ll be good. I will.”

Yoongi shushed him, leaning forwards a bit more to tuck the kid’s face into his neck, his head slotting in perfectly. “It’s okay,” he soothed, ignoring the other two in the room as they watched him blankly. “You’re okay now, I promise. Go back to sleep.”

He began rocking the teenager back and forth, water sloshing slightly out of the tub at the movement, but Yoongi didn’t mind getting a little bit wet if it meant the kid stopped shuddering against him. Eventually, after what felt like years, the boy’s breath evened out, body slumping down in defeat, and when the elder dared a look, the younger had indeed succumbed back into unconsciousness.

Yoongi sighed heavily. This was turning into a _long_ day.

“He’s knocked out,” he told the two behind him, refusing to look at them. “We should move him back to the sofa, so you can finish patching him up, Jinnie.” When neither of them moved, still staring incredulously at him, he huffed and rolled his eyes, trying to lift the kid up by himself.

Taehyung finally snapped out of his daze, racing over to help once he saw Yoongi struggling despite the fact that the kid was practically weightless. As they cautiously carried him through to the living room, Jin went and forged up a needle and some thread, returning back to see the both of the them plus Hoseok, the latter who had finally compiled an outfit out of Jimin’s clothes, all waiting for him in various positions of the room.

No words were spoken as Jin worked, drying the kid off first before his hands, still and smooth, threaded the broken skin back together. Hopefully with the better care, the scars would be a lot less faint and much less noticeable. At least that’s what Jin prayed for.

He finished up quickly, wiping some formed sweat off of his brow, and then allowed Hoseok to begin dressing him, sitting back on the worn-out chair in the corner to take a moment to breathe, but also maintain a watchful eye on everyone.

He figured that the paleness of Hoseok’s face was due to the screaming from earlier; it was rather harrowing to hear, but the younger still got on with his job, dressing the teenager with care and appreciation, afraid any strong movement would harm him.

“Where’s Joon?” Yoongi finally spoke, attempting to break the ice that had formulated around them.

“And Jimin?” Taehyung piped up. Jin startled, almost forgetting his other two boyfriends were not currently here. He smiled tiredly at the three of them.

“Jimin wasn’t feeling good, so Joon took him for a walk in the hopes that he could get him to open up about it.” He could see faint worry flicker behind their eyes. “Don’t get too worked up over it, I don’t think it was anything too bad. Jimin was just feeling down. A little love and some TLC and he’ll bounce right back.”

Taehyung hesitated, but finally nodded in agreement, picking at his fingers. Hoseok was finishing buttoning up the pants when the topic of their conversation sauntered in, Jimin running through without even stopping to say hi. “Bathroom,” he yelled back at them, and Yoongi got up instantly, about to follow as he immediately realised that they hadn’t cleaned up after themselves.

“What the fuck?” Namjoon’s voice halted all of their movements, and they turned to stare at him. He was eyeing the figure on the sofa, face narrowed, and half the occupants in the room panicked, unsure of how to explain whilst maintaining both their dignity and heads by the end of it.

Before he could say anything though, Jimin wandered back in, looking confused and mildly worried. “Why is there blood in the bathtub?” he asked, looking around, finally spotting the teenager passed out on the furniture, backtracking at the sight.

“Better question: why is there a fucking kid sleeping on our couch?” Namjoon shot out, shoulders hunching. He looked at everybody one by one, scrutinizing them. “Anyone care to explain?”

Jin stepped forward, placing some distance between Namjoon and the other three, Jimin standing awkwardly to the side, unable to remove his gaze from the teenager. “Look, I don’t really know what went down either,” Jin started, watching everyone carefully. “So, if you guys could explain to us what happened at the estate, and I’ll add whatever parts I know, okay? Let’s be rational about this, guys, and _not_ get mad at whatever is said, for once.”

Taehyung, Yoongi and Hoseok held a silent conversation, waiting a few minutes before Yoongi reluctantly nodded in agreement. “Okay,” Taehyung agreed.

And they explained everything: from entering the house, to killing the target, looking for the money, finding the kid, and then finally to them opting to bring him home with them. Jin then filled them in on all of the details from when they’d returned back to the house. Once they’d finished their story they waited, watching Namjoon and Jimin’s face with uncertainty clouding their features.

“So, let me get this straight,” Namjoon began, eyeing them carefully. “You go out with the plan to get us our owed money.” They nodded. “You instead find a teenager in the basement.” Another set of nods. “And your first thought is, ‘oh, he’s cute, let’s just take him back with us’?!” His voice had raised with each statement, indicating how ridiculous he thought the entire ordeal was.

“Yeah, pretty much,” Taehyung said, affirming the notion. “Oh! And he also said he has an ability as well, so that just made us want to take him even more.”

Namjoon groaned, hiding his head in his hands. “I’m the leader of a gang of idiots. Idiots,” he muttered to himself, earning a light whack on the shoulder from Jin.

“Well, I think they did the right thing,” he stated, smiling at the indignant look he received. “What? This kid has been to hell and back probably around 5 times already, so if anything, they just saved him from _probable death_. And if he does have abilities, then who better to help him than us, right?”

“I can name about ten people who are better than us,” Namjoon barked back, raking a hand through his light pink hair. “He’s practically a stray! He’ll only cause trouble for us. We can’t… we can’t just _keep_ him.”

"Oh, come on, Joonie! He's such a cutie, though, don’t you think?" Jimin said, cooing over the unconscious figure spread out on the sofa, earning some frustrated sighs from the elder one’s present. "What's his name?"

"We don't know," Hoseok replied, huffing as he watched Jimin take hold of the teenager's hand. "I was trying to get him to tell me, but then these two idiots decided that dropkicking a heavily locked door was a _smart_ idea. He passed out before I could get anywhere."

He turned to Taehyung (who had the decency to look the slightest bit apologetic) and Yoongi (who had to nerve to smirk like he hadn't done anything wrong). "He was literally on the verge of speaking, you assholes."

Tae hung his head a little. "Sorry," he muttered.

Yoongi snorted, ignoring Taehyung's apology, and opened his mouth to argue with a retort on the tip of his tongue. He glanced over to the couch, face suddenly attempting to remain passive, but his eyes softened a little at what he saw. He sighed. "I mean, if you really want to know, you could just ask him now," he said, speaking in a quieter voice than he had initially wanted to use.

At his words, five heads simultaneously swivelled around to settle upon the teenager, who was now lying wide awake, eyes beautifully big and round and _open_ , staring up at them all in what could only be described as petrified terror.

Taehyung was the first to move, as always, getting over his shock rather quickly and dashing down in front of the couch, mindfully avoiding contact with the boy in case he freaked out on them. The last thing he wanted to do was injure the poor kid further.

Neither of them seemed to notice Jimin's hand remaining enclosed around the youngest's fingers, and the former couldn't help feeling grateful for this small fact.

"Hey," Tae murmured, trying to keep everything about him soft and welcoming. "You're finally awake." The minute he said it he knew it sounded stupid; like it was one of the most obvious things in the entire world to point out. From the restricted laugh that escaped Hoseok's mouth, he knew he wasn't the only one who thought that.

The boy was now shaking, limbs quivering with undoubtable fear as he flitted his gaze between the six of them, eyes vaguely recognising Tae and Hoseok but confusion overcoming his features at the other four.

"W-who are you?" he whispered, eyes tightening closed as if expecting to be hit- which they all realised, he probably was. "What... what is it that you want from me?" His voice was barely able to be heard despite the room wallowing in silence, and it cracked a few times during the two questions, making them flinch slightly.

Jin immediately got up to get a cup of water for the boy, ignoring the way the kid's body recoiled inwards momentarily at the sudden movement. "I'll be right back," he murmured soothingly.

To be honest, he could've simply conjured a glass in his hand right then and there, but they didn't want to scare the boy further by overwhelming him with lots of abilities, especially if he hadn't seen many before, so he decided against it and went to grab water the mundane way.

When he returned, nobody had moved an inch, the boy continuously trembling as his gaze fixed upon them. All five of them knew that they were staring, and that it was probably intimidating, but it was like they had lost the ability to function properly, only able to stand there and gape like idiots.

Jin shook his head, stifling a chuckle, before moving forwards and offering the glass of water towards the teenager. The younger shuddered, seemingly melting into the couch at his actions, but Jin refused to be deterred, giving his best smile and continued to hold out the cup.

Very hesitantly, after a few minutes when everyone seemed just about ready to pass out from how long they’d been holding their breath, a pallid, quivering hand reached out, cautiously gripping onto the glass as if Jin was going to snatch it away now he knew the younger wanted it. Instead, he nodded encouragingly, and the second he did so, the liquid was nearly gone, the teenager gulping it down ravenously.

“Whoa, careful,” Jin cried, not wanting the kid to make himself sick. He pulled the cup away from him as he was on the last few swallows, and the boy whined at its loss. He fucking _whined_. The sound made Jimin want to carve his own heart out it was that tragic.

“It’s okay,” Jimin soothed, tenderly rubbing his thumb up and down the others’ hand, which he’d managed to remain in contact with. The action only caused the younger to furrow his eyebrows in confusion, eyes scared and unguarded, but he didn’t pull away. Jimin grinned at the progress. “Jin just doesn’t want you to drink it as fast, but he can get you another one if you promise to drink it slower.”

The boy blanched, eyes widening at them all one by one. “I get another?” Jin nodded, smile faltering. “But I… I haven’t done anything for you.” Taehyung observed how they all paused, unsure of how to respond to such a heart-rending statement.

“We just want to help you,” he answered finally, trying to place as much conviction into his words as physically possible to get him to understand. “You don’t _need_ to do anything, kid.”

This seemed to set the teenager even more on edge, uncertainty playing across his features.

Jin hurriedly poured some more water, giving it to the younger with the promise that he’d go slower when drinking it. The other gladly accepted, forcing out both a thank you and an apology merged into one. He ignored it, smiling warmly, instead opting to learn some information about the kid now that he was less frightened of them all.

“What’s your name, sweetie,” Jin questioned, the endearment rolling off of his lips before he realised what he was doing. He internally freaked out, worried it would scare the boy off and that he’d just ruined their one and only chance of getting to know him at all _shit shit shit_ , but instead a hot flush simply rose to his pale cheeks, making him look twice as adorable. “How old are you?”

They all waited, assuming he’d closed himself off from them now that the questions were coming out. But then, out of the blue, his honey like voice echoed through the room, finally placing a name to the face. “Jungkook,” he said softly, eyes downcast. “I’m 17.”

Jungkook. The name suited him, and it was so perfect that Jimin could feel it easily rolling off of his tongue without even saying it.

“Agh!” Taehyung squealed, startling them all. “You’re just a baby! You have to call us all hyung now! I’m finally not the youngest!”

Jungkook stared at him, head tilting to the side. “Why? How old are you?”

“Crap! We forgot to introduce ourselves, didn’t we? Shit,” Jin started rambling, cursing himself for being such a terrible host for their guest. “Right, my name’s Seokjin, but everybody calls me Jin here, and I’m 23, also the oldest. Yoongi here,” he pointed to the one with the mint coloured hair. “He’s 22, followed by Hoseok who’s 21. Namjoon is also 21, and then these two,” pointing again to the two that were crowding round the boy. “That’s Taehyung and Jimin, and they’re both 19. Taehyung was originally the youngest by a few months, but obviously you take that title now.”

Everybody waved or nodded their head in affirmation as Jin travelled around the group, introducing them all one by one. Jungkook honestly was starting to look a little bit overwhelmed with the continuous stimulus, occasional shudders still racking through his body, so Jimin took this as a point to leave for a few minutes to let him digest everything so far.

“I’m just going to go and take these clothes out to the bin,” he announced, picking up the bloody t-shirt and pants that Jungkook had been wearing beforehand, grinning widely as the youngest suddenly realised he wasn’t wearing his original attire. “Don’t worry,” he reassured before the other could panic. “Technically those are mine, but you suit them a lot better than I do. You can keep them.”

The he exited before anyone could see the bright blush that had arisen to his cheeks or the squeal that was desperate to escape his mouth as Jungkook clasped harder to the loose top around his skin.

When he was gone, nobody knew what to do or say, and Jin knew he would feel a bit awkward if he attempted to get some water a third time. Taehyung sighed at the silence, fidgeting in his space, before moving over to settle himself beside the youngest, mindful not to touch him just yet.

Jungkook was eyeing him guardedly, trying to bury his face slightly into the fabric over his shoulders. It probably smelled a lot like Jimin, Tae rationalised, eyes melting at the sight. That boy always did have a calming scent.

“Hey, Jungkook,” he began, shifting a little when the younger flinched faintly. He offered a tiny, warm smile in response, attempting to radiate friendliness. “Do you… do you remember what happened in your house? With us?”

“Tae,” Jin warned, stepping towards them. Taehyung ignored him, pupils boring into Jungkook’s wide, doe eyes in anticipation. Slowly, Jungkook nodded, afraid.

“You killed my father,” he answered honestly, and to their surprise there was no malice layered in his tone. Instead it was steady and soft, encompassing everything that made the boy him.

Taehyung nodded his head encouragingly. “We did, and to be fair, you probably hate us for that.” He paused, allowing the younger to mull things over in his brain.

“I don’t,” Jungkook replied, almost immediately, irises gazing at them one by one. “I probably should, but I can’t bring myself to. You’ve…” He took a shaking breath. “You’ve shown me more kindness in 20 minutes, than he ever did in 10 years.”

Hoseok had to force back a sob, whilst the others all widened their eyes at his words. It felt like the more they learnt about this kid, the harder it hurt. They didn’t even want to fathom the thought that this was only the tip of the iceberg.

Taehyung took this as his chance to plough forwards. “When… when we were on the staircase, you said you had abilities. I’m not sure if you remember that or not.” He knew he was pushing it the minute Jungkook recoiled, breath quickening an inch.

“I don’t. I don’t. Please. _I’m sorry_ ,” he choked out, form trembling again. Tae couldn’t stop himself, reaching over at the sorrowful sight and entwining Jungkook’s fingers into his own, ignoring when the youngest squeezed his eyes tightly shut at the movement.

“It’s okay,” he soothed, running his other hand through the now clean and silky dark locks of hair, trying to calm him down. “I only asked because we all have them too. There’s nothing to be afraid of.”

At his statement, Jungkook stilled instantly, head snapping up. His gaze momentarily stared intensely into Taehyung’s, the action somewhat unnerving him. He then heard a faint gasp radiate from Jungkook’s lips. “Your eyes were blue,” he whispered, cautiously lifting the hand Tae’s wasn’t wrapped in and grazed his fingertips across the edge of the elder’s corneas. Electric currents sparked through Taehyung’s nerves at the touch, and his heart quickened. “I saw them change, and then the sea washed in my ears. That was you.”

Tae had definitely never heard of that description before. He could only nod in agreement, petrified of making even a minuet sound.

“And you all have them?” he asked, eyes moving between the other four, fingers still resting on the side of Taehyung’s forehead. They nodded as well in affirmation.

Jungkook’s breathing evened out again at the revelation, ears twitching. “Do you think you can show us yours?” Jin inquired carefully, feeling like he was walking on broken eggshells. Jungkook paused, but then gradually forced himself up by his elbows, moving so that he was in a sitting position on the couch. He’d let go of Taehyung completely, and the other wanted to cry at the loss.

“Okay,” he breathed out, refusing to look at them all. They all watched, and he closed his eyes, quivering feet descending down to the floor.

Then a gunshot echoed outside of the door.

Jungkook screamed loudly, covering his ears with his hands, and Namjoon and Yoongi both simultaneously ran to the front, throwing the door open and disappearing behind it. They returned a few seconds later, carrying a limp Jimin between them, the latter of which had fresh blood drenching his clothes and more spurting out from beneath his shirt. His complexion was paling, and his eyes were dulling, struggling to see in front of him.

As the elders hurried him forwards towards the furniture, Jungkook sprinted from the couch, allowing them to unceremoniously throw Jimin onto it in replacement as they all panicked.

“What happened?!” Jin yelled, dumping himself next to the younger, shushing him as he cried at the pain. “It’s okay baby, you’re going to be okay,” he murmured.

“North Side gang member,” Yoongi seethed out, clenching his fists and pacing hurriedly. “Shot him whilst his back was turned, _in our territory_. I’m gonna kill them.”

“Do that after we’ve sorted this out, okay?” Namjoon reasoned, concealing his growing anger behind a perfectly constructed mask. He faced Jin. “It’s a clean shot through his abdomen. I checked, there’s an exit wound, so you won’t need to take the bullet out.”

“I can’t do _anything_ , Joon,” Jin shouted, startling the others. They felt their worry increase tenfold. “This is well beyond my expertise. We need to take him to Jonghyun quick, or…”

“We can’t,” Hoseok choked out. Five heads immediately snapped to him. “He… he’s got his hands full with Key today. Apparently, he got into some hand-to-hand combat or something on a mission, and the guy stabbed him a few times. He won’t be able to help us.”

Everybody’s faces blanched at that, gears whirring to try and quickly figure out what to do. Taehyung had run behind the sofa the minute Jimin was laid down onto it, clasping his hand and pressing soft kisses onto the smooth skin as tears rolled down his cheeks. “We can’t just do _nothing_ ,” he said brokenly.

“Shit, _shit_ ,” Namjoon cursed, punching the wall as he tried to think.

“I can help,” a miniscule voice piped up, high in pitch and laced with panic. Everybody in the room quickly flicked their heads round to the source, gazes focusing upon Jungkook. With the sudden dire turn of events, they’d momentarily forgotten about the seventh person in the room, who was stood with his back pressed against the farthest wall, quaking uncontrollably. Their raised voices and anger had probably scared him right back into his head.

“What?” Yoongi questioned, eyes narrowed. He would try and be nicer, he really would, but the worry and fear for Jimin was shrouding every sense he had except for anger and hatred.

“My ability,” Jungkook squeaked, clutching his hands together tightly into his stomach. “I can-" 

“Do it,” Jin demanded, pulling the youngest forwards and pushing him at Jimin, whose eyes were filled with pain on the sofa. Jungkook shook, shaking his head roughly. Jin grabbed his shoulders, startling him out of his stupor. “Please. If you can save him, do it. For us. _Please_ , I can’t let him die,” he pleaded, voice betraying him.

Jungkook continued to tremble, eyes terrified, but nodded slowly. Jin let him go, perching himself immediately by Jimin’s head.

With slight hesitation, Jungkook placed his fingers gently on top of the wound, Jin watching on intently, carefully carding his own hands through Jimin's sweat soaked hair in constant, soothing motions.

He was so afraid of the younger dying here in front of them. He didn't want the last thing Jimin would see to be their worried as fuck faces with unattractive tears rolling down their cheeks like an avalanche, and yet here they all were, waiting with baited breath.

He refused to tell anybody just how much he was trembling inside, because with their line of work they all knew the constant risk of death. The tasks that could always go wrong; the job that could always turn sour.

But here was somebody he loved and cherished beneath him, and to see him slowly lose his battle with life over something so anticlimactic like a _bullet_... Jin didn't know if he had the ability to accept that.

They all paused with quiet anticipation to see what the youngest was planning on doing, tantalising worry attached to all of their faces as they could merely watch whilst the situation gradually became worse and worse.

Jimin himself, rasping heavily, continued to stare up with a confused expression as Jungkook cautiously pushed down on the blood, forcing him to wince harshly at the abrupt pain.

The other offered a tiny smile in apology, taking a deep breath before closing his eyes, and waited.

Initially nothing happened, and Namjoon was becoming so restless that he nearly jumped out from his position on the floor as time increasingly ticked away.

"This is ridiculous," he muttered under his breath, fear shrouding his judgement. "We shouldn't be sitting here like clueless animals, we need to be _doing something_. We need to-"

"Wait," Jin whispered, edging closer to get a clearer look at the faint sight developing in front of them. Namjoon followed his gaze, emotions quenched slightly, and what he saw made his eyes widen in both shock and wonder.

From underneath Jungkook's hands a soft, heavenly glow emitted, gold in colour, which extended itself out to the damaged area in thin, comforting slivers, as if it were its own entire entity and not a continuation of the boy himself.

Warm tendrils of the substance began to rise steadily through the veins on the youngest's wrist and moved up his arms, etching a fluid, fluorescent pattern across his body that spiralled in the direction of his heart.

As the group viewed on in enraptured awe, even Yoongi leaning forwards to observe the spectacle better, the shine grew in strength, a shimmering blanket knowingly lacing itself over the injured's body.

Jimin's face became less and less pained, slowly easing out into a relaxed expression whilst Jungkook started breathing heavily through his nose, tension lines creasing amid his forehead.

Eventually, Jungkook stopped his actions, removing his hands and slumping into a kneeling position, the glowing hue remaining intact along his skin, having only dampened slightly with his efforts.

Taehyung was the first to move, reaching over to lift up Jimin's shirt and inspect the bullet wound.

"Holy fuck," he breathed, coercing the rest of them to gather closer to take a look for themselves.

"Oh my god..."

" _Shitting hell..._ "

"What? What's it look like?" Jimin attempted to sit up straighter as well, surprising himself when he found he could do so without any effort or some form of pain rippling through him, a complete contrast to what it felt like mere minutes ago.

He looked down at his chest, expecting to see a small hole where the bullet had penetrated his body, but to his complete surprise, only a smooth patch of skin remained, now completely healed, with no indication of there ever being an injury there in the first place.

Reaching over to touch it, as if he were walking through a dream or some alternate reality, he gingerly pressed the once existent wound, feeling only the firm stretch of his flesh beneath his fingertips.

It wasn't even like it had been healed though, he realised, as there was no scar. It now both looked and felt exactly like it had been before he'd gotten shot, as if time had somehow reversed itself.

Is that what Jungkook had done? Did he just _rewind time_?

But if that was the case, then why had it only happened on his body, and not everywhere else? The younger didn't automatically appear to have _that_ amount of control over whatever his ability was, so exactly what had just happened to him?

The others were coming to similar conclusions, faces scrunched up in mixed confusion and fascination, and Jimin (now having full control of his limbs once again) turned to face the youngest and ask him all of his burning questions, the latter of which had yet to move from his slumped position on their floor.

The rapture of golden had continued to latch itself upon his skin, having halted at his neck, just below his chin, making him look like an angel. He was slouched, breath heavy, and Jimin knew he'd seriously pushed himself to accomplish whatever the hell he'd just done. Jimin couldn't help but feel somewhat special at that fact.

"Hey, Kookie?" Hoseok questioned, speaking up before the rest of them could themselves. The younger stiffened, indicating he'd heard. At the action, Hoseok softened his voice once again, making it appear breathier and more composed compared to the usual energy they were all used to him having. "What did you just do to Jiminie-ah?"

Jimin frowned at the nickname straight away (smiling inside because everyone knew he secretly loved it) but leaned forward from his position on the sofa to grasp the answer, all of them beyond curious by this point.

All of them have abilities themselves, so something like this shouldn't have been so surprising, but all of them had never seen one so... _beautiful_ before.

Yoongi's, Taehyung's, and even Namjoon's abilities all had an elegant yet dangerous feel to them, conjoining the thoughts of wonder and fear together whenever they were used.

Jin's, Hoseok's and Jimin's on the other hand, presented a usefulness you couldn't find anywhere else, being called upon for practical reasons or sometimes just really stupid situations.

But _this_.

Whatever the ability was, it held a somewhat comforting aura, diffusing emotions of warmth and kindness together with the safety of home, and Jimin felt like he could get drunk off of it and it still wouldn't be enough of a fix for him. He could watch the spectacle for hours on end and yet continuously wish- no, _yearn_ \- for more.

He supposed that in itself could represent a hint of danger.

Jungkook lifted his head, brown eyes glazed over and feeling very far away from them all. "I healed him," he whispered, and it was only then that Jimin realised that the younger had finally stopped shaking. "Did... did I do good?" His voice was unbelievably small, almost non-existent.

If any of them had been blessed with enhanced hearing, they could have heard six hearts simultaneously breaking at his words. Taehyung could feel a few excess tears rise up to his eyes, left behind after Jimin's quick brush with death only a few minutes before.

"Yes," Jimin breathed out quietly when no one could make themselves answer. He swallowed down a lump that had formulated within his throat. "Yes, Jungkook. You did really good."

The youngest offered a minuscule smile at that, so broken and so full of pain that they all began to wonder how they hadn't fallen apart yet at the amount of suffering they could see.

"That's good," he murmured, almost to himself. "I’m glad I was good." He was swaying slightly, consciousness depleting, and before they could comprehend what was happening his form was crashing backwards, eyelids closed.

Hoseok reacted quickly, jumping across and catching the frail body in his arms, immediately snuggling him close whilst worried eyes fretted over Jungkook's features, searching for the crux of the problem.

The others had similar expressions on their faces, managing to refrain themselves from lunging towards the two, too afraid of overcrowding them both with their presences.

Instead, they let Jin take the lead, who immediately bent over and gently pressed his hands to various sections of the boy's body: his forehead, his cheek, his neck. He then looked up, sighing to himself.

"He's okay," he reassured them all, watching whilst they all released a loud huff of relief at the same time. "He just overworked himself using his ability; his energy's completely gone. He simply needs some rest and some fluids down him and he'll be feeling refreshed in no time."

"Thank god," Taehyung replied, promptly reaching over to take Jungkook from Hoseok now that he knew the boy wasn't in any immediate danger. But the elder shook his head firmly, clutching the youngest solidly to his chest and stuck his tongue out.

"Nope, it's my turn with the baby. You got to hold him throughout the entire car journey; I think I deserve some time with him as well." He cuddled the boy some more, gazing down at the relaxed look on the sleeping teenager’s face. " _Agh_ , he's so squishy! I could just about die from his cuteness right now!”

Taehyung grumbled, prepared to growl back a complaint, but Namjoon silenced him with his hand, eyeing the kid with a lot less wariness than he had beforehand.

He wouldn't admit it, but the kid _really was_ adorable. He reminded him a little bit of Jimin: with a face that could be both cute and gorgeous at the same time, and Namjoon could feel himself falling as hard for him as the others had already done, despite his reluctance.

He let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. "Jinnie," he said, the eldest greeting him with love in his eyes as he called out to him. Namjoon's heart faltered. "Put him in my bed," he ordered softly, seeing everyone's eyes widen momentarily as he spoke (except Yoongi, who was knowingly smirking at him).

"What?" Tae asked sceptically, both of his eyebrows raised high in shock. "But you were so against keeping him earlier! You were all like, ' _he's gonna be trouble for us, he has to go, I’m the big bad leader, what I say goes_ ', blah blah blah."

Taehyung had buffed up his shoulders and arms when imitating him, and Jimin giggled, the sound acting like music to all of their ears.

"Yeah, well that was before all of... _this_ happened," he said, gesturing to Jimin and his now non-existent bullet wounded chest. "It kind of puts a few things into perspective." He then froze, rocking on his feet nervously, eyes casting downwards. "Plus, you all know how untrusting I always am. You said he needed rest, and my bed is the biggest and the comfiest, so it's probably best that we put him in there anyway. We can get to know him better later, and him us, and then maybe I can start letting him in a bit."

Yoongi nudged him, intertwining their fingers and snickered at his abashed face. "And?" he asked, as if he already knew what Namjoon was thinking and feeling.

He blushed, ducking his head down into the elder's neck despite Yoongi being ultimately smaller than him. "And... _maybe_ you were right about him being cute. Maybe."

He could almost feel the others grinning at his back.

“Come on,” Yoongi sighed, wrapping his arms around Namjoon’s back, pressing a kiss to his jaw. “I’ll give Jinki a quick call and get him to have Jungkook fall under the radar for now; get rid of any existing documents and such. I think I still have some cash left over from that mission last month to pay him with. Get Jungkook to disappear legally for a while.”

Taehyung blanched at his words. “Jinki can do that?” he asked, eyes widening.

Jin laughed. “It’s _Jinki_ , he can do anything. That man has connections literally everywhere.” He turned to Yoongi. “See if you can get him to start forging new documents for Kook too, then he can officially stay with us.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Yoongi muttered, already exiting the room with Namjoon in tow, hands held together. “I’m not an idiot.”

The remaining four giggled, Taehyung opting to now jump on top of Jimin since his partner in crime was no longer dying. Jimin groaned at the weight, but still encircled his arms around the younger, cuddling him closer and drifted his nose through his hair.

Tae turned his head slightly, catching Jimin’s eyes. He used one of his hands to caress the softness of his cheek. “I thought you were going to die,” he said quietly, face betraying the pain he still felt inside. “I don’t… I couldn’t bear it if…”

Jimin silenced him with a kiss, shifting Taehyung’s body on top of his so that Tae’s lap was now above him and he could cup his face with both hands. It was sweet and full of love, lips moving in perfect sync; all of the words that they couldn’t find themselves to say placed into this single embrace.

When they parted, Jimin smiled warmly, pulling Tae down to give a second peck on the nose, before planting an array of extra little kisses all over his face, ignoring the tears dripping down in favour of the giggles that now erupted from his mouth.

“I’m not going anywhere,” he reassured, voice light but certain. He looked at Jungkook, who was being lifted up by Hoseok, body curled into a ball and tucked into the elder’s hold perfectly. Jin was cooing at the sight, complaining that he didn’t have a camera to capture the moment. Taehyung followed his gaze, eyes also resting on the sight.

“Neither of us are,” Jimin whispered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was a lot longer than I thought it would be.
> 
> I originally planned on 5000 words, and it became nearly 10,000... but I hope you all still enjoyed it!
> 
> Now I need to have a mushy, gushy section, so bear with me. I am so overly grateful at the response I've had so far to this story! After only one chapter, there's been over 100 Kudos, comments, hundreds of hits, and I literally cried I was that overwhelmed. I thought maybe one or two people would like this, and the fact that a lot of people do makes me so overly elated and happy! So I'm going to continue working hard and letting it encourage me! Fighting!
> 
> Also, thank you to those who responded about the SHINee pairing! I've decided on OT5 (as you can see from the tags) and I already have storylines planned and am excited to write them.
> 
> I won't be setting myself set deadlines for chapters, because I don't want to feel pressured to get something out and have it less than best, but I also don't want to get people's hopes up. I think it's better if I work at my own pace with this so that I don't give up and continue to be encouraged.
> 
> I seriously hope you all enjoy this new chapter, and I will work just as hard for the next chapter! Until then >.<
> 
> Peace, V


	3. Chapter Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning: Very Mild Mentions of Abuse and Swearing

When Jungkook woke up, it was to a dimly lit room and an unbelievably comfortable bed cushioning his body.

  
He could feel the usual, dull ache of a beating weighing down his limbs, and he was vaguely aware of the overriding exhaustion sweeping through his bones that prevented him from piecing much information together at the present time.

  
His sluggish mind didn't react as he snuggled his nose deeper into the quilt, taking in the lavender scent and basking in the warmth he couldn't ever remember having, allowing himself to just relax and simply _breathe_ for a moment, finally at peace.

  
...

  
Wait.

  
It took a few seconds, thoughts shifting through cement, but all at once his brain decided to be just coherent enough to realise that being on a squishy mattress with a plush pillow underneath his head was most definitely _not_ normal.

  
At least not for him.

  
His eyes flew open, everything suddenly on red alert. He glanced around and realised that the bed was almost certainly not his (heck, he didn't even _own_ a bed) and that the comfiness he found himself enraptured in was something he'd never been accustomed to.

  
He immediately scrambled to remove himself from the area, stumbling forwards and crashing to the floor, the harsh wood seeming familiar beneath his fingertips. His stomach screamed in protest, and as he landed his muscles twisted, shrivelling up in pain.

  
Breathing harshly through his nose, Jungkook tried to control himself, curling into his usual ball in an attempt to conceal himself and forced his hand over his mouth to dampen the heavy sounds escaping there.

  
He couldn't figure out where he was, or what he was doing here, only that all of the unknown variables scared him to no end.

  
The door to the room opened slightly, a stream of light filtering its way into the darkened room, illuminating the cream walls and moderate furniture. A pair of feet followed, slow paced at first, but then quickening as they faced Jungkook's body and realised the state he was in.

  
The intruder knelt down and reached out, but Jungkook clamped his eyes shut before he could catch a glimpse of the face, the offending hands contorting into those of his father's.

  
He whimpered quietly, limbs shaking uncontrollably, and he recoiled hard, attempting to squash himself into the smallest shape he could manage to try and satiate the upcoming onslaught of pain.

  
But instead, a soft hand knitted its way into his hair, which Jungkook now realised actually felt clean for the first time in a long while, and simply rested itself there, not doing anything except stroking his head carefully and rhythmically.

  
The motion felt nice and soothing, Jungkook finding himself unconsciously leaning into the touch and sighing, and the person chuckled, continuing the movement. It made his head feel light and fuzzy, and Jungkook had to bite his tongue to prevent the tiny sounds of content that threatened to be let out with every constant action.

  
“Does that feel good?” the other murmured, voice warm and gentle, and Jungkook gasped in surprise, finding his eyes opening on instinct, because _he knew that voice_. He recognised it. All at once the memories of the day before came flooding back to the forefront of his mind, having been repressed slightly since he awoke.

  
He lifted his head up to confirm his thoughts, and the beautifully unique pupils looking back down at him solidified his thinking, pulling a weak smile from his lips.

  
“Hoseok-hyung,” he whispered.

  
“There you are, baby,” Hoseok said, his grin brighter than the sun and lighting up the entire room, and Jungkook blushed, both over the sight and from the pet name. “I was getting worried about you there.”

  
Jungkook cocked his head to the side in momentary confusion. He couldn’t figure out why Hoseok would be worried about him, or why he was wasting his time feeling such a thing when he wasn’t worth that much. He never had been.

  
Then he remembered the terrified position he’d forced himself into only moments prior, and he could feel the redness overtaking his normally pale cheeks as the notion of the elder actually caring about him entered his head, refusing to budge.

  
Was that really the case? Did Hoseok care about him? He hadn’t given Jungkook any reason to doubt him yet- he’d even taken him away from his prison when he knew the other could’ve merely left him there to wither away and die. Alone and unheard of.

  
They’d patched him up and spoken kindly to him, the faces of the other five also coming to mind as he recalled everything bit by bit, and the youngest couldn’t help but feel the faint sense of _hope_ twirling within his stomach as he did so.

  
Did he really want to give himself up to these people, after all of the pain he’d been put through? Was he ready for that, so quickly after leaving his old house?

  
Jungkook made the rash decision to at least try. Any sign of the elder’s moving to harm him, and he knew he would retreat back into himself with a reprehension hot on his tongue, but honestly Jungkook was just so _sick_ and _tired_ of all of the constant hurt and suffering that had consumed his life for however long it had been.

  
He was desperate for some love, for a _home_ , and it appeared that these people were willing to give it to him. He wanted to show them that he was willing to take that step towards them as well.

  
It may have been an added bonus that they were all also unbelievably beautiful, but Jungkook didn’t dare to risk saying that out loud.

  
“Are you okay, Jungkook?” Hoseok’s silvery voice drew him from his thoughts, and he blinked, realising that his breathing had quickened, and his hands were currently clenched into his stomach. He hadn’t even noticed. “Why are you on the floor?”

  
He blanched, finding himself unable to explain. He didn’t want to sound stupid by saying that he wasn’t used to the feeling of a bed- that he didn’t feel good enough to even use one- so instead he opted to shrug his shoulders slightly, staring up at the elder and soaking in every detail of his face to pass the time.

  
Hoseok’s smile faltered, becoming a little more forced at his response. “You’ve been asleep since you passed out last night,” he said, prompting the younger to remember. Jungkook nodded slowly, indicating he knew. “It’s still early in the morning; none of the others are up yet. So, it’s probably best if you try and get some more rest for now. You still look quite tired.”

  
Hoseok left the sentence hanging in the air, allowing Jungkook to decide for himself what he wanted to do. When he and the others had talked everything through late the night before, the youngest sleeping soundly in Namjoon’s bed, they’d all concluded that Jungkook had probably never had the freedom to do what he wanted to do, and so they wished to give him that.

  
He’d seen the way his boyfriends looked at the younger (it was the same way that he looked at him), and so he knew that they all just wanted the other to become happy, and experience love- whether that be platonic or otherwise.

  
“Why are you awake?” Jungkook’s tiny voice caught his attention, and Hoseok wanted to scoop the younger up in his arms as the softness engulfed him. At first the elder didn’t understand what he meant, but then his brain clicked on and realised that yes, he was the only other person in the household currently up and moving, and that most likely confused the teenager.

  
He chuckled. “I’m a bit of an early bird,” he replied, exhaling loudly. “I like to go for a morning walk every now and then to clear my head, but honestly I’m beat right now.” And it was true. He’d been awake since 5am, and his legs felt ready to give out underneath him if he tried to take another step.

  
Jungkook opened his mouth slightly, letting it hang as he seemed to want to say something, but struggled putting whatever it was into words. Eventually he scrunched his eyes shut, shaking his head minutely and rushed out a rapid, “You can sleep in my bed if you’d like,” so fast Hoseok almost didn’t catch it.

  
Almost. But he did. And the suggestion had his own face heating up like a beetroot.

  
“Uh,” he stuttered out, too flustered to think of a comprehensive answer. Jungkook wanted him to sleep with him. In the same bed. Together. If this wasn’t the best gift the world could offer him, then he didn’t know what was. “I…”

  
“You don’t have to,” Jungkook squeaked, his ears tinged pink, eyes cast downwards. “I just thought that would be okay because you seemed tired and the bed is comfy, and you’ve already done so much for me and I don’t want to be a bother and…”

  
“Jungkook,” he said, carefully clasping the youngest’s face between his palms and looking at him like he held the world in his hands, stopping the younger’s ramblings. The other gazed back up at him, his features so small and innocent, especially with the still prominent bruises surrounding his delicate bones. “I’d love to.”

  
Jungkook halted, unsure of how to continue, particularly because he hadn’t expected the elder to agree to his proposal. But Hoseok leaned forwards again, this time more thoughtful and steady, and encased his arms around the teenager, mindful of the stitches on his stomach as he lifted him up off of the ground.

  
Jungkook’s legs automatically wrapped around Hoseok’s hips, keeping them close to each other, and Hoseok felt his breathing falter as he led down on the mattress without hurry, the youngest nestling down against him, already sleepy.

  
When they were both flat out, Jungkook curled around him like a kitten, Hoseok used one arm to pull the quilt just below their shoulders, and enveloped the other around Jungkook’s skinny back, securing him to his chest.

  
“Are you okay like this?” he whispered, hoping with everything he had that he wasn’t overwhelming the younger. But Jungkook nodded calmly, cautiously resting one arm over Hoseok’s middle and squeezing his hand in the fabric of the elder’s shirt. He tucked his head into the crook of Hoseok’s shoulder and snuggled deeper, small puffs of air tickling the skin under his chin.

  
Hoseok entangled his legs within Jungkook’s own, bringing them closer, and using the hand that wasn’t wrapped around the youngest, he petted the stray hairs at the nape of the other’s neck, settling himself down.

  
His brain could barely keep up with how close they were, or how Jungkook’s body seemed to slot in perfectly with his own, and he prayed to whatever deity was above that the youngest couldn’t hear the hammering of his heartbeat as they cuddled together in Namjoon’s king-size bed.

  
“Sleep well, Jungkook,” he murmured into the younger boy’s dark locks, rubbing his nose over the silky feel of his crown, smiling like an idiot.

  
But Jungkook was already asleep.

* * *

 

Jungkook’s eyes opened once again a few hours later, momentarily confused as to what had interrupted what could only be described as the best sleep of his life.

  
He felt around the mattress groggily, only then realising the absence of the warmth Hoseok’s body had emitted. He cracked his eyelids open, frowning a little when he saw that the elder was indeed gone from the bed, only a cold imprint remaining from where he had been, and Jungkook’s heart ached a tiny bit as the notion hit him, even though he couldn’t figure out why.

  
He pushed himself up by his palms carefully, wincing slightly when a sharp pain strung along his chest, but it died down the minute he got himself upright, and he released the breath he didn’t realise he was holding.

  
Swinging his legs off of the bed, he got up slowly, taking a few moments to compose himself before moving towards the doorway and opening the entrance, cautiously stepping out into the hallway.

  
A part of him wanted to find Hoseok, the other’s warmth as they cuddled together becoming something he longed for, and another part of him wished to see the other five, wanting to be certain that they were real and not figments of his imagination he’d created to prevent insanity from settling in his mind.

  
Although, he supposed creating fake people in his head to satisfy the loneliness he felt could be taken as a form of madness by some.

  
Jungkook didn’t know how to manoeuvre himself around the house yet; everything was still so new and bright for him, unlike the heavy darkness that normally enshrouded the four walls that made him feel trapped in his old home. His bare feet pattered down the corridor silently, his presence unnoticeable as he walked on past the other rooms, doors closed tight.

  
He eventually came to a set of stairs, vaguely hearing the sound of cheerful whistling coming from the bottom, accompanied by the faint aroma of… bacon? Or was that chicken? He couldn’t be sure.

  
Whatever it was, it smelled _really_ good, and Jungkook found himself taking cautious steps closer to the scent before he could stop himself, only coming to a halt once he’d reached the end of the staircase and was standing in front of none other than Seokjin himself.

  
The eldest hadn’t appeared to notice him yet, his back facing him, shimmying in a comical fashion as he hummed a tune to himself, the sound coming from his mouth beautifully sweet and captivating. Jungkook was entranced, fiddling with the oversized sweatshirt he was draped in (that he was pretty sure was Jimin’s if his memories were correct) but staring mesmerised as the other worked, sizzling some food on a pan and flipping it over every now and again with expertise.

  
It was only when Jin turned around to grab the salt from the kitchen table that he finally saw the youngest, jumping back a bit with momentary fright, because _when had he gotten there_? Jungkook had made no sound whatsoever when he came in, and Jin was unnaturally startled. Usually nobody was able to catch him off guard.

  
His reaction had panicked Jungkook slightly, probably thinking he’d done something wrong, because he immediately bowed, eyes shut tight again in fear. “I’m sorry,” he said quickly, voice quiet and trembling. “I should’ve said something when I entered.”

  
Jin wanted to reassure the younger, give him a hug and shush him, tell him everything was okay and that nothing he could do would spark a violent response from any of them, but he knew that was a lot harder for Jungkook to understand despite what he said. So instead, he waved it off, putting on the biggest smile he could muster on his face and resumed to pick up the salt from the counter, continuing with his task, but this time fully facing the youngest.

  
“Don’t worry about it, sweetheart,” Jin replied, keeping his voice light and carefree, testing out the pet name he’d used last time in the hopes that it wouldn’t scare the other off by being too forward. Jungkook looked up, blushing once again, and Jin’s smile became a little less forced. “I was just surprised is all, usually no one can sneak up on me.” He laughed softly to himself. “You can sit down at the table if you’d like.”

  
Jungkook took him up on his offer straight away, still wanting to make up for what had transpired since he’d come downstairs, and so perched himself on the closest chair he could see, body tight and stiff, like it refused to relax.

  
Whilst Jin busied himself with finishing breakfast, Jungkook allowed himself to look around the kitchen, taking in all of the finer details of the boys’ home. The kitchen was of a reasonable size, the usual utensils like the stove and the fridge lined along one wall, whilst on the other side stood the wooden table, a rectangular shape with six matching chairs tucked underneath, one occupied by the youngest himself.

  
There was an open entrance on the opposite side of the stairway, leading into the lounge, where Jungkook remembered all of the hectic events that blurred together in his mind occurring the night previous. He could faintly see the couch where he’d used his ability, and Jungkook shuddered harshly at the thought, trying to block it from his mind.

  
Luckily, Jin was finishing up, serving out seven portions of succulent bacon onto the dishes he’d gotten out, and once he was done he exhaled, wiping his brow proudly, before turning off the hob and bringing two of the plates with him to the kitchen table. He sat down across from Jungkook, placing one down in front of himself, and then pushed the other underneath Jungkook’s nose, passing over some chopsticks to allow him to eat up the bacon slices he’d cooked up.

  
Jungkook simply stared down at the food as Jin tucked in, marvelling to himself as to how good it tasted on his tongue, and his lips turned up into a grin as he met Jungkook’s eyes over the counter. “Go on, it won’t bite,” he joked, putting another piece of the meat into his own mouth.

  
The youngest mumbled something incoherent, and Jin made a noise in response, prompting Jungkook to speak louder so that he could hear him.

  
“I don’t know how to use chopsticks,” the other admitted weakly, embarrassment overtaking his features. Jin faltered, the piece of bacon he was holding dropping from between his sticks in surprise. He glanced up at the younger.

  
“How come?” he questioned softly, trying to tread carefully. He was worried about the answer he’d receive, and the way Jungkook’s head dropped down only increased his anxiety.

  
“In my old place, with my dad,” he began, voice mild like he didn’t want to say, and Jin already knew that this wasn’t going to be pretty. “He would bring me leftover food in a tin, and then…” He faltered, inhaling shakily. “He’d just throw it at me, and I’d have to scoop it up with my hands before he took it away. Sometimes…”

  
Jin reached out faster than the eye could see and waited, a piece of bacon balanced in his chopsticks a few inches away from Jungkook’s mouth. The eldest could tell that whatever he was going to say next would be pushing his boundaries, and Jin didn’t want the younger leaping before he could walk, so he opted for a quick distraction instead.

  
What his father did was horrible, everything more he heard disgusting him further and making him wonder how Jungkook was even still here, functioning and communicating well when Jin knew that he would’ve cracked by now if it was him.

  
Jungkook gazed at him, confusion pooling in his eyes, but Jin nodded encouragingly, smiling softly. “Give it a try. I still need a second opinion.”

  
Hesitantly, the youngest opened his mouth, slowly and tentatively, before leaning over to take the breakfast off with his teeth, chewing awkwardly. But as the flavour hit, his pupils sparkled, his entire face lighting up, and he smiled- a small cheeky grin making its way onto his face and making everything about him seem brighter.

  
Jin nearly cried it was that beautiful.

  
“What do you think?” he asked in a straight tone, trying to act like the other’s opinion didn’t mean everything to him right now.

  
Jungkook nodded his head, eyes scrunching up cutely like a rabbit as he licked his lips. “It’s very tasty, hyung! You’re a really good cook!”

  
Jin found himself turning red at the compliment, his heart melting at the adorable sight, and he tried to turn his head away to hide his obvious flushing. He picked up another piece and fed it to Jungkook, who took it without complaint, eating contently.

  
They continued like that for a while. The elder didn’t mind feeding him; in fact, he quite enjoyed it. It felt like such a special moment between the two of them, and frankly, he didn’t want it to end. He wanted to keep the happy look on Jungkook’s face imprinted there forever, because he truly looked like an angel, something for Jin to take care of and protect.

  
But then Jimin, the ever considerate one, of course decided to come and interrupt the beautiful moment, stumbling his way into the kitchen and ignoring the two occupants of the room, going to the fridge and downing a few gulps of orange juice straight from the carton, earning a huff of annoyance to resonate from Jin’s lips.

  
“That’s so unhealthy, Jiminie-ah,” Jin chided, and Jimin looked back their way, eyes widening at seeing both the eldest and the youngest awake, Jin feeding the other happily like he was a baby.

  
He shrugged, taking a few more swigs before sighing and returning it to the fridge. He then grabbed one of the dishes from the side, coming and planting himself in the seat beside Jin and hoovering up the food as if he hadn’t eaten in a decade.

  
Jin laughed wholeheartedly, giving Jungkook the last piece of meat on his plate before taking the youngest’s dish, beginning to eat his own share from that instead.

  
“This is really good, Jinnie,” Jimin mumbled, mouth full from how fast he was eating. Jin whacked his hand with a scolding on his tongue, trying to get the younger to express some semblance of manners at the table because Jungkook was here and they wanted to make a decent impression instead of scaring him off by eating like wild animals.

  
Jimin merely giggled, swallowing his current bite before leaning over and planting a quick kiss on Jin’s unsuspecting lips, to which the elder coughed nervously before laughing again himself. “Come here, you muppet.”

  
The eldest grappled Jimin’s hips, pulling him forwards a little and properly kissing him, the younger’s cheeks burning up but melting into the embrace. It was sweet and reserved, but also strangely intimate, and Jungkook felt guilt swirl in the pit his stomach as he realised he was intruding on a close moment between the two.

  
Without realising it he squeaked out his shock, forcing both of the other occupants to immediately pull apart, mouths tinged pink but looking sheepish, Jin in particular feeling bad for being so rude and forgetting about the teenager in the room for a moment.

  
“Shit, sorry Jungkook,” Jin said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. “We probably shouldn’t have done that in front of you. I’m really sorry.”

  
Jungkook waved his hands frantically, trying to placate the situation. “No, no! It’s alright! This is your house, I didn’t mean to intrude so much! I just thought… that you were all roommates, or something. I didn’t think…” His voice got quieter towards the end, shoulders hunching forwards to make himself seem smaller.

  
Jimin and Jin gave each other a glance from where they’d separated, both inhaling deeply, knowing that they had to tell the youngest about the nature of their relationship before he freaked out every time he saw one of them kissing each other.

  
“We’re dating,” Jin announced, his eyes closed to hide the immense awkwardness he felt, especially because it sounded like he was revealing it to the entire universe and not simply a 17-year-old boy sitting across the table. “Not just me and Jimin, though. All of us. Like, all six of us. Together. In one big goofy relationship.”

  
He kept his eyes shut to avoid whatever look crossed Jungkook’s face. They all knew that being in a same-sex relationship wasn’t necessarily something that was admired, and being in a six-way version of that was quite a mix for controversy, so to say he was worried about how Jungkook would react would severely be an understatement.

  
“Okay,” Jungkook said, giving them both a small smile. Jimin and Jin startled back, both of their expressions contorting to one of bewilderment.

  
“Wait,” Jimin replied slowly, eyes narrowing. “You’re fine with that? Like, no problems whatsoever? You don’t find it strange?”

  
“Why would I find it strange?” he asked, eyebrows furrowing in genuine confusion. “As long as you’re all happy, then I don’t see the problem.”

  
He was saying everything so nonchalantly, as if he were talking about a topic as simple as the weather and not something that had caused the boys an unbelievable amount of grief from other people, simply because of the way they lived their lives. To hear him speak so maturely but also so honestly about it, Jimin felt like he was honestly going to start tearing up.

  
“Okay,” Jin answered, a delighted look playing on his face as he spoke softly. “Okay.” They both smiled to themselves, shaking their heads in disbelief.

  
“How was your sleep?” Jimin asked, digressing the conversation to something more conventional, rubbing the tiredness from his own eyes and running a hand through his fluffy hair, his eyes scrunching up as he grinned, making him look unbelievably cute in the youngest’s mind.

  
Jungkook hummed, smiling a little. “It was really nice,” he answered, earning pleased looks from the other two in the room. “I woke up too early though, so Hobi-hyung slept with me.”

  
Both Jin and Jimin stopped abruptly, staring at him strangely whilst their eyes widened at his words. “Hoseok did what now?” Jin said, raising an eyebrow, and Jungkook began to think he’d said something wrong.

  
“He… slept with me,” he replied meekly, pulling on his index finger with nervousness as he fidgeted. “I… fell out of bed this morning, and Hoseok-hyung said he wanted me to go back to sleep, but I asked if he could lay with me, because…” He trailed off, afraid of giving his reasoning in case he sounded pathetic to them.

  
He also twisted the story slightly, so that the others didn’t worry about him struggling to sleep in the bed like he knew Hoseok did when he’d realised. “And then we cuddled in the bed, and we fell asleep together. I don’t know where he is now though,” he finished quickly.

  
Jimin released the heavy breath he was holding, and Jin smirked knowingly, like he’d figured something out that Jungkook knew nothing about.

  
“That makes sense,” Jin said, returning his attention back to eating, not saying anything more on the matter, and Jungkook found himself becoming more and more confused.

  
“Hey, Jungkook,” Jimin asked softly, his voice catching the youngest’s attention immediately from the cautious tone it had taken. The other was glancing downwards, pinching the skin on the back of his hand out of habit, refusing to make eye contact. Jungkook hummed to indicate that he’d heard. “Um, I didn’t say yesterday, and I really should have, but… thank you. You know, for saving me and everything. You put yourself at risk doing it, and I couldn’t be more grateful.” Jin nodded along in agreement, offering a kind smile in his direction.

  
Jungkook’s face tinted a faint rose colour, and he looked away to hide the embarrassment he felt at the praise given. Jimin continued before he could dwell on it further, determined to finish whatever mission he had in mind. “And I was wondering, maybe… if you wanted… although you don’t have to… like I don’t want to force you, but would you, maybe, possibly, even just a little… want to have a cuddle with me as well?” His voice reached an all-time high at the end, declaring his anxiousness to both of those in the room.

  
The youngest’s entire body went rigid, scared of how to react. Sure, he’d enjoyed it with Hoseok this morning, but he still wasn’t overly certain of how much contact he could withstand without getting petrified, or whether it was going to feel just as comfortable if he did it with Jimin. There were too many unknowns that put Jungkook at a standstill.

  
But then he saw the hopefulness on Jimin’s face, how he looked just as (if not more) nervous than he was, and then he remembered how he wanted to show them his willingness to try and open himself up to them all- how he wanted to have that closeness with them.

  
And so, before either of them could react, Jungkook shuffled over and wrapped his arms around Jimin’s neck, subconsciously leaning into the action and allowing his body to calm itself down as he absorbed all that was Jimin.

  
The elder’s hair was inhumanely soft against his ear, his scent an unusual combination of sea salt and coconut, and the feeling of his own arms encasing themselves around Jungkook’s skinny body felt safe and secure, like a protective wall encompassing him from any oncoming danger.

  
Jungkook decided that he liked it. A lot.

  
Jimin was surprised by the forwardness to say the least, but he was also extremely grateful at the world for allowing him this golden opportunity, and so he took it in his stride, stroking the nape of Jungkook’s neck with his fingertips softly, trying to be as gentle as possible with the younger.

  
When they pulled apart, Jin watching on from the side (mildly jealous), Jungkook stared up at the elder, flitting from his alluring smile to his handsome eyes that lured you in, to his smooth as silk skin that framed him perfectly, all of which knocked his breath away. Jimin was pretty in every sense of the word, and Jungkook found that unsettling sense of longing he’d felt when he’d realised Hoseok was gone from the bed strike back once again.

  
He yanked himself backwards, not liking the way he was feeling and trying to create distance between the two of them.

  
“What is it?” Jimin questioned worriedly, holding a hand up to his face and clasping his lips gently with his fingers. “Do I have something in my teeth?”

  
Jungkook shook his head immediately, embarrassed all of a sudden at making Jimin anxious about his looks. Jimin sighed at his answer, giggling to himself.

  
“That’s a relief,” he said, ruffling his own hair, unknowingly flexing one of his biceps in the process, and Jungkook blanched, hiding his face in his hands. “Hey, what’s wrong?” The worried tone had come back with a vengeance.

  
Furiously shaking his head, Jungkook refused to look back up, hating how he was feeling and what he was thinking in the others’ presence. The elder had literally just admitted that all six of them were in a steady relationship, and here was Jungkook, ready to ruin everything by finding his hyungs pretty- like always messing things up.

  
Jimin bent down, unaware of the younger’s inner turmoil, carefully prying away Jungkook’s hands from his face so that he could see those cute doe eyes stare back out at him, capturing his immediate attention with how wide and mesmerising they were. Jungkook only stilled at how close Jimin’s face was to his own.

  
“What’s wrong?” Jimin repeated, his voice airy and kind, and Jungkook found himself answering before he could stop himself.

  
“You’re really pretty,” he whispered, blinking slowly a couple of times.

  
The response caught Jimin off guard, and his eyes widened, cheeks burning as his temperature rose slightly. Jin coughed on his last few pieces of bacon, spluttering momentarily through his surprise.

  
Jungkook started shaking in Jimin’s hands. “I’m sorry,” he said timidly, averting his gaze. 

Jimin still didn’t know how to answer, his mind running a thousand miles a minute because Jungkook thought he was pretty, Jungkook thought he was pretty, _Jungkook thought he was pretty._

  
Jin decided to save his ass, scoffing to catch their attention. “So, am I not pretty then, too? Or am I just not good enough for you?” he teased, one corner of his mouth twisting up.

  
Jungkook stared up in disbelief, shaken up a bit by how they didn’t appear to be mad at him. Then he realised that he still hadn’t answered the eldest. “No! I mean, yes! You’re also pretty, Jin-hyung. You both are.”

  
Jin leaned over and squeezed his cheek, cooing lightly. “You’re too cute for your own good, do you know that, Jungkook?”

  
Jimin, who had finally managed to control his initial shock, groaned at the actions, throwing his head back in an overdramatic flick. “Don’t call him pretty, Jungkook. You’ll only fuel his already intense ego.”

  
“I heard the words cute and ego, so here I am,” a boisterous voice exclaimed, joining the mix and interrupting the conversation. Taehyung bounded into the room, no longer dressed in his original designer outfit like last time, instead opting for a simple long-sleeved shirt and loose pants, somehow managing to look equally as attractive in both, and Jungkook found his head spinning.

  
When he saw Jungkook awake and stood next to Jimin his grin only widened, skipping forwards and ruffling the younger’s hair fondly. “Hey, Kookie! Glad to see you finally up and moving.”

  
Jungkook scrunched his nose up, looking both puzzled and endearing to all of those present. “Kookie?” he questioned, testing the nickname out on his own tongue to see if it sounded any less charming.

  
“Yeah, Kookie!” Tae confirmed, throwing a boxy smile his way whilst he began eating his share of the breakfast from the side. “It’s a nickname I thought up for you last night. Do you not like it? If you don’t I can always change it.”

  
His cheerful nature was contagious and Jungkook found his own lips turning up as well, a few breathy laughs escaping his mouth. He genuinely couldn’t remember the last time he smiled this much, but with these boys it was just so _easy_. “No, no, it’s okay!” he reassured the elder, gazing up at him in adoration. “I… I like it. A lot, actually.” He glanced around at the other two, giving them equally happy looks. “I like all of the names you guys call me.”

  
“I’m glad to hear that,” a deeper voice said, descending down the stairs and sounding a lot more tired than Taehyung had done. Maybe that’s just because Tae has an unlimited amount of energy.

  
Namjoon appeared at the bottom of the staircase a moment later, bubble-gum hair still stuck up in various places and an old sweater chucked over his head, making him appear like a big teddy bear. He pressed a kiss to the top of Jin’s head as he passed, patting Jimin on the shoulder before he got to Taehyung, swinging one arm around his shoulders. “Although I have to admit, I thought it was Hobi who came up with that nickname yesterday,” he commented thoughtfully, refusing to let go when Tae began to squirm.

  
“Yah, you brat!” Hoseok yelled, hurling himself through the kitchen in nothing but a pair of sweatpants, his hair dripping wet droplets from the strands on his head. _He must have been in the shower_ , Jungkook realised with a start, somewhat glad that he hadn’t been abandoned when he woke up and that the elder was simply freshening up.

  
He whacked Taehyung round the back of the head, laughing when the younger complained before turning to Jungkook, giving him a wink. “ _I_ came up with that nickname for you, Kook. Don’t believe any of the lies that this one feeds you.”

  
“They aren’t lies!” Taehyung shouted indignantly, managing to escape from Namjoon’s grip. He immediately sat down on the chair beside Jungkook, shuffling himself close to him but mindfully avoiding any contact to prevent him from panicking.

  
Jungkook noticed his actions, a fuzzy feeling blooming in his chest at his thoughtfulness, but cautiously moved himself so that he was now positioned directly beside the elder, their shoulders brushing against each other to tell him that it was okay if they touched, that he could handle it.

  
Taehyung’s smile widened even more, if that was even possible, and he carefully rested his arm around Jungkook’s shoulders, securing him safely. “Honestly,” he sighed, shaking his head at the youngest. “I don’t know where they get this completely _biased_ and _unimportant_ information from, but it’s sad to see how pedantic they can all be when it comes down to it, don’t you think, huh Jungkookie?”

  
He said it as if both him and Jungkook were the only two in the room, but accentuated certain parts to Hoseok and Namjoon to make a point, and the youngest couldn’t help himself when he giggled, the noise sounding foreign to his own ears but making everyone else’s hearts flutter in response.

  
“God, can you please not act five for three minutes, Tae,” Namjoon groaned, and Taehyung stuck his tongue out, scrunching his face up playfully. The leader blatantly ignored him, instead turning his attention to the youngest tucked under Taehyung’s shoulder, and Jungkook felt slightly intimidated at his hard gaze, averting his eyes.

  
Namjoon exhaled heavily. “I’m sorry, kid,” he mumbled out sheepishly, rubbing on his neck as he smiled nervously. When Jungkook looked up and saw, shocked at the apology when he couldn’t understand what there was for the elder to be sorry about, he noticed that when Namjoon’s lips turned up his cheeks squished in unison, lovable dimples appearing on both sides of his face, and Jungkook found himself wanting to poke them.

  
His astonished expression must have made the elder even more anxious, because he rubbed the bottom of his ears subconsciously, trying to avoid looking at anyone. “I, uh, I didn’t make the best first impression yesterday, and I probably scared you more than what was needed. I shouldn’t have, so I thought it would be best for me to apologise and ask if we could, maybe start over.”

  
Jin got up, taking Namjoon’s hand in his own and smiling softly, kissing Namjoon’s cheek fondly. “Joonie’s actually a big softie at heart, he just gets protective. So, if he came off as scary yesterday, that was all a huge act, believe me,” he reassured the younger.

  
Jungkook nodded, cheeks flaming. “I’m… I’m sorry too,” he replied, voice quiet and mild. Before any of the others could protest at his fiftieth attempt to apologise, he continued. “I didn’t give a good first impression either, but I want to change that, so yes. We can start over, Namjoon-hyung.”

  
“Don’t be sorry, kid,” Namjoon said, but he seemed pleased, the dimples permanently etched onto his face. “It wasn’t your fault.” He could notice Jungkook ready to argue, which broke the leader’s heart slightly, but he protested. “Nope, that’s the end of this discussion. Thank you. Goodnight. The end.”

  
His phrasing made them all laugh, and the seriousness quickly diffused itself.

  
“Right, we do need to ask you something though, Jungkook,” Jin spoke up, alerting everyone else’s attention, and they all sat or stood up straighter, making Jungkook feel kind of nervous. “It’s okay,” Jin soothed, sensing his discomfort. “We just wanted to know if you really want to stay here with us.”

  
The statement caught Jungkook off guard. “You don’t have to,” Namjoon added, although his eyes displayed sadness when he did so. “I have a friend of mine making official documents for you if you did want to stay, but if you don’t we can move you to a safe house or somewhere where you couldn’t be tracked. Whatever it is you want to make you happy, we can do it for you. You just have to say the word.”

  
Jungkook felt a little overwhelmed. They all waited there before him, looking at him with eyes full of hope and anticipation at his answer, ready to do anything they could to make him feel warm and loved. His brain already knew his response even before they’d finished speaking.

  
“I want to stay,” he replied, tone soft but full of conviction, and nobody missed the simultaneous breaths of relief at his words. “If that’s okay with all of you.” Everybody nodded instantly, their faces displaying nothing but happiness.

  
Taehyung literally whooped, causing any remaining discomfort that had been there to gladly run from the area as they laughed, cheerful and carefree. “Yes!” he cried, fist pumping the air. “Not going to lie, Kookie, I was _really_ hoping you’d say that! This causes for celebration.” He turned to fully face the youngest, staring at him intently. “What do you like to do? We can do whatever you want- my treat.”

  
Jungkook froze, his face going blank as he tried to think. It was a kind offer, but he honestly didn’t know how to respond, and bit his lip whilst pondering. “I don’t like to do anything, really,” he answered meekly, his head drooping a little. “I was never really allowed…”

  
“A movie?” Taehyung interrupted, voice taking on a slightly higher octave with hurry. Jungkook’s head snapped up, seeing both worry and reassurance in Tae’s eyes, and it made him feel safe, like he didn’t have to reveal everything all at once. He could take his time.

  
“A movie sounds nice,” he said slowly, nodding his head contently.

  
“Sweet!” Taehyung cheered, a boxy smile taking over his face as his eyes sparkled. “I’m gonna show you all of my favourite Studio Ghibli movies! Damn, wait, which one should I start with? My Neighbour Totoro… Howl’s Moving Castle… Spirited Away…” He began mumbling to himself, trying to decide from the many varying titles, too many to choose from. “Agh! I’ll figure it out! Jin-hyung! The popcorn, if you will! This calls for a movie night!”

  
“Tae, it’s 1 o’clock,” Jin deadpanned.

  
“A movie _afternoon_ , then! God, Jinnie, get off my back already and go make some popcorn for us.” Everyone froze, Taehyung realising much too late how disrespectful that sounded coming out of his own mouth.

  
“Excuse me,” Jin said calmly, his eyes glinting with hidden anger and malice, fists clenching.

  
Taehyung internally freaked out. “Please,” he squeaked, shutting his eyes closed in minor fear.

  
There was a silence for the next couple of seconds, so deafening a pin could be heard dropping, before Jin groaned, letting his head drop tiredly onto the table. “I can never stay mad at you goofballs for too long. You’re all too cute.” His mumbles sounded so annoyed that the rest of them couldn’t help but snigger at him. He held his chin back up with his hands. “Fine, I’ll do it. But only if you all finish your breakfast, Hobi puts some clothes on, and somebody goes and wakes Yoongi up.”

  
With all of the commotion that had been occurring, they’d all forgotten about the seventh member who had somehow missed out on everything that had happened so far, probably because he was such a deep lover of sleep that a hurricane could happen, and he wouldn’t be any more aware.

  
Nobody wanted to take their hand at the task, knowing the possible danger it entailed. Nobody, except the blissfully unaware youngest.

  
“I’ll wake him up,” Jungkook offered, already standing up from his seat. “You guys can get everything sorted out in the lounge and I’ll bring him through.”

  
As he was making his way to the stairs Jimin threw his arms around him, deciding to ignore the flinch and hiding his face into the youngest’s neck. “Kookie, no! You need to maintain your innocence!” The drama of the statement made him giggle, and he gently wriggled out of the hold, beginning his ascent up the stairs.

  
“I think I can manage, Jiminie-hyung.” Jimin squealed at the name before running off, throwing one last good luck over his shoulder.

  
Jungkook wasn’t too sure which room was Yoongi’s, but after looking in the first three and seeing them empty, he quickly found it, seeing the smaller male curled up on the side of his bed, the entire quilt surrounding him, making him look like a caterpillar in a cocoon. That image was accentuated by the only part of him being visible being a section of his face and the fluffy tufts of his mint green hair.

  
The youngest waddled over to the elder, lips turning upwards at his relaxed sleeping expression before leaning down and shaking his arm, hoping that would do the trick.

  
It didn’t.

  
Jungkook huffed, shaking a little harder the second time, but still the result was the same. He started poking him instead on the cheek, silently revelling at how soft it was, before calling out to him.

  
“Yoongi-hyung,” he whispered, receiving no response. He sighed. “Yoongi, we’re going to watch a movie. The others want you to come downstairs.” The elder grunted, swatting the offending hand away and trying to swivel around to face the other wall, failing to do so because of the mountain of blankets he was encased in. Jungkook chuckled, and realised he hadn’t mentioned himself in his plea, feeling a little guilty. “I want to watch a movie with you too, hyung. Please wake up. This is really difficult.”

  
Yoongi finally snapped an eye open, warily shifting his muscles in a semi-stretch, gaze gradually landing on Jungkook who stood before him, face pressed rather close. The sight of the younger made him smile sleepily, gums showing adorably, and Jungkook tried not to freak out.

  
“Don’t wanna watch a movie,” Yoongi mumbled, reaching out a hand and entangling Jungkook’s fingers within his own. “I’m tired.”

  
“We all want you to come and watch it with us,” Jungkook reiterated, squeezing Yoongi’s palm in encouragement.

  
Yoongi exhaled, shoving the quilt off of himself. “I’ll come down,” he yawned, not making any move to sit up, eyeing the youngest. “If you’ll give me a cuddle.”

  
_What is it with everybody here and cuddling_ , Jungkook thought to himself. Not that he was complaining mind, because to be frank he was developing a quick love for these embraces as well, and any offered he’d gladly accept if it was from these boys.

  
So Jungkook nodded, ignoring Yoongi’s bewildered face and crawling into the bed next to him, allowing his body to contort itself to how it wanted to fit next to the elder. He ended up curling into his side, one arm sliding over and clutching onto Yoongi’s middle whilst the other remained contained in his hand.

  
Yoongi didn’t complain, doing the same except shifting Jungkook slightly so that he was more on top of him, surrounding both of his arms around the younger in a cautious yet secure hold, and blinking heavily in the darkness.

  
“They’ll be waiting for us,” Jungkook murmured against him, the other’s vocals vibrating across his stomach warmly. Yoongi just nodded.

  
“They will,” he agreed, petting the youngest’s irresistible dark hair smoothly, and Jungkook hummed happily, telling Yoongi that he liked it. He opened his mouth to attempt another step, momentarily deciding against it before thinking, what the heck, the kid was literally clinging to him despite being petrified of them yesterday, so let’s just go all the way. “Can I carry you down?” he asked tentatively.

  
He could see Jungkook pondering it for a few seconds, maybe weighing up his options, but Yoongi could tell from the minute he looked at him that he was in a considerable amount of pain, and that the younger was hiding it from them, probably to try and stop them from worrying about him. The kid had freaking stitches, for fucks sake, and from his own experience Yoongi knew that they sucked- really bad. The elder just wanted to take the pain away from him, even for a few minutes.

  
Eventually, Jungkook nodded his head, breathing out an agreement in a soft undertone, and Yoongi smiled in relief. He manipulated the younger on top of him, manoeuvring him into a bridal style lift, and Jungkook snuggled into the hold, his head resting atop Yoongi’s shoulder, steady breaths emitting from his lips.

  
Yoongi spent a few seconds admiring the younger, wondering how someone could be so hurt and yet so gorgeous at the same time, before catching himself and forcing his body to move, carefully treading his way to the lounge.

  
The others were all ready for them, Namjoon, Jin and Hoseok taking up the sofa, whilst Taehyung and Jimin were perched in the love seat, a space next to them. Another slot could be seen between Jin and Namjoon, and when Jin patted it the moment he saw Yoongi, he knew that it was saved for the youngest.

  
He planted Jungkook down between them, ruffling his hair a final time before throwing himself on top of the other two youngest, ignoring their groans of pain and entwining himself around them.

  
Whilst the opening credits of the chosen film (Howl’s Moving Castle being the final result) were rolling, everyone discreetly watched as Jungkook gradually let himself go, moving from being as strung up as a wire in between Jin and Namjoon, to slowly nestling down next to them, the two wrapping their arms around him protectively. Only then, were they all able to relax fully and enjoy the movie.

  
Around halfway through, when Jimin was not-so-secretly sniffling in upset, complaining dramatically because, “ _Howl and Sophie deserve to be with each other, hyung! You just don’t get it_!”, Jungkook managed to doze off again, his head lolling adorably against Namjoon’s chest, and the elder began to bite his knuckles to stop the noises of delight that threatened to escape him.

  
“How long has he slept now?” Hoseok teased quietly, favouring staring at the younger instead of the film. Jin chuckled mildly.

  
“Like 15 hours. Honestly, you can tell he’s a teenager, can’t you?” Jin chided.

  
Namjoon shushed them both, rubbing his thumb back and forth across Jungkook’s shoulder, glaring playfully at the elder’s. He felt Jungkook shift beneath him, and he assumed he was trying to find a more comfortable position in his sleep, so he shuffled himself to lend a hand.

But the second he did so the youngest’s breath hitched, form trembling, and Namjoon bolted upright, trying to assess what was wrong immediately.

  
His movement startled the others, but when they noticed Jungkook shaking heavily they also moved, panicked and unsteady. Namjoon sent a hard stare their way, telling them to back off for a moment. Hoseok left the couch, joining the other three while Jin and Namjoon tried to help the youngest.

  
They quickly realised he was having a nightmare, his form hunched over, fingers clenched, breaths raspy and in staccato, muttering incoherent words as his eyes flitted beneath closed eyelids, fighting an unseen foe.

  
Jin stroked his arms comfortingly and Namjoon tapped his face, repeating his name over and over, a little louder each time to lull him out of his head. One of his taps became a little too hard in fear, and Jungkook’s eyes snapped open, wide and still beautiful but not quite _there_ , not really seeing them.

  
The two elders were both trying to consolidate him, any touches they’d give met with flinches as his pupils were blown, still lost somewhere between dreamland and reality. “He was… there was… blood and pain and… I’ll be good, _I’ll be good_ , I promise… please…” Small bouts of mumbles accompanied his ramblings, but nobody dared move closer as Jin and Namjoon worked; Jin rubbing soothing circles into his back whilst Namjoon spoke softly to him, trying to pull him back to the surface. “It’s hurting, it’s _hurting_ … please, make it stop, I…”

  
Namjoon then decided he’d had enough, clasping Jungkook’s face between his own two hands and staring directly into his eyes, delving quickly into his mind, even though he vowed never to do this to any of them without permission.

  
He sank just long enough to see the crimson on the floor, hear the screams coming from his- _no, Jungkook’s_ \- mouth, feel the fear and the toxic hatred from his father and… and he located the essence that was Jungkook’s soul, grappled it, pulling _hard_ , bringing them both back up to the surface, where they were left panting, Jungkook finally appearing alert and aware.

  
“I’m sorry,” Namjoon choked out, his head feeling like it was going to split in two, which was considered normal after using his ability. “I just had to get you out of there. I didn’t see anything. I didn’t look around. I promise. I’m sorry.”

  
He always felt guilty after using his ability, the boys knowing this thoroughly, because he felt like he was invading the most private part of someone, poking around in their brain when he shouldn’t be. And he knew, better than anyone, that when you go poking around in anything, you always stumble upon something you didn’t want to find- with everybody.

  
A tiny hand, still shaking, snaked its way onto his cheek, which he faintly recognised had tears strolling down it, and when he looked up he saw that the hand was connected to an arm, which was connected to the rest of Jungkook, who appeared shaken up but finally there, alive, and with them.

  
“It’s okay,” he whispered, leaning forwards and pressing his forehead against Namjoon’s, the elder feeling his breaths exhale steadier in front of him. “You got me out of there. Again. It’s okay.”

  
And that, for Namjoon, felt like enough, and he smiled weakly, more tears rolling down from his eyes.

  
Now that the panic had settled down, although everyone was just as numb from it all, Taehyung darted forwards, movie long forgotten and clasped Jungkook into a tight hug, allowing a single sob to be let out from his mouth. “You’re okay, Kookie. You’re okay,” he reassured, unsure as to whether he was reassuring the youngest or himself.

  
Jungkook nodded, willing himself to accept it as well.

  
Tae pushed the younger’s head back, letting his gaze settle into the other’s doe eyes before bending down, planting a smooth, delicate kiss onto his forehead, closing his eyelids as sparks whirled around in his stomach. When he pulled apart, he looked down determinedly, seeing the brightest smile lighting up Jungkook’s face from the action, and he softened.

  
“Never again, Kookie,” he promised, voice thick with certainty. “You’ll never get hurt again. Not with us here. We’ll make sure of it.”

  
Jungkook thought that maybe the best part of it all, was that he actually believed it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okaaaaaay, so I'm just going to apologise for not updating in just over a week, and I can't excuse myself other than with the fact that I've had lots of tests to do, and I came out to a parent and they may or may not have rejected me, which sucks, but oh well XD 
> 
> I hope the length makes up for my absence, and I'm excited to write the next chapter because I'm pretty certain I'm going to be introducing SHINee, and I can't wait!
> 
> I really hope you all liked a fluffier chapter (although I'm not used to writing fluff so I tried my best) although my hands automatically write angst so sorry about those parts popping in without meaning to...
> 
> I want to say a huge thank you to everybody who commented! Comments make me feel all warm and happy and I want to throw a massive shout out to @theninjacat for their extra long comment! After my (excuse the French) shitty weekend, their comment made me so much more encouraged to write the rest of this chapter and happier than I'd felt so far, so it meant a lot （＾ν＾） 
> 
> Thank you very much for reading, I hope you all are doing well and enjoyed this, and please keep commenting your thoughts and enjoying yourselves! Stay safe, be well, and I'll see you all next chapter!
> 
> Peace, V


	4. Chapter Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning: Fluff, More Fluff, and Namjoon has Glasses

Yoongi whacked Taehyung upside the back of his head, eliciting a sharp cry of offence and momentary pain from the latter as he furrowed his eyebrows in response to the sudden attack.

"Ow!" Tae whined, rubbing the sore area softly with his own fingers as he glared up at Yoongi, who merely smirked at him from the side, refusing to offer comfort. "What was that for?"

All five of them, minus Jimin who had insisted on remaining in the lounge with Jungkook after his nightmare (which truthfully had them all relatively shaken up, although they'd never admit that) were restlessly stood in the kitchen, having closed the door behind them as a barrier to maintain the privacy of the conversation they felt they needed at this moment.

With every passing hour it felt like more discussions had to be done- lines needed to be drawn and barriers needed to be established, if anything to allow the youngest more freedom and liberty with them all now that they knew he was staying with them for good.

But Jungkook was making it increasingly difficult to stick to their resolve when he sat there with his adorable as fuck squishy cheeks and his tiny bunny teeth and sunshine giggle, making them all just wanted to smother him in kisses and cuddles and love him unconditionally until any pain from the past sprinted away forever, never to return.

How they wished the problems of the world could be that simple to fix.

"What did you think you were doing in there?" Yoongi hissed, keeping his gravelly voice low in the hopes that the two in the other room wouldn't hear them speaking about the incident that had just occurred.

Taehyung reared back, staring up incredulously at him, not caring how disrespectful it may seem to them all as he finally clicked on. "Is that what this is all about? Seriously? You're mad because I kissed Jungkook." He scoffed, albeit jokingly. "Figures."

"Watch it," Namjoon warned, quickly intervening as he sees the smaller of them leaning over precariously to remove his shoe, getting ready to lob it across the short distance between them into Taehyung's unsuspecting face. He sighed, resting a hand on Tae's shoulder as Hoseok wrapped his arms comfortingly around Yoongi's shoulders, the elder leaning into the embrace instead of shrugging it off like people would expect of him (the secret softie). "We aren't saying that, Taehyung-ah."

“Actually, we kind of are," Jin pitched in, unhelpfully, sticking his hands inside his cardigan pockets whilst he leaned back against the counter, exhaling lightly. Namjoon huffed, expressing his distaste at how the eldest chose to add to the only just diffused situation. Jin grinned, sticking his tongue out playfully. "What? It's true, Joonie, and you can't deny it. Taehyungie kissed Jungkook, and I know that I at least felt a _little_ jealous that he got to be the first one to do so, so don't you look at me like that, Mr I'm-Actually-A-Cheese-Puff Leader."

"I'm not a cheese puff," Namjoon grumbled, unable to hide his face quick enough before everyone caught the slight redness that had taken over his cheeks at the eldest's words, Hoseok laughing loudly and cooing at him.

"Oh, _come on_ ," Taehyung groaned, throwing his head back with a pout, forcefully dragging them all back to the conversation at hand. "I kissed him _on the forehead_. You don't need to all act like I just chopped off somebody's head or something. It was harmless, a way to show him we're all here for him. If anything, you should be _happy_ about it." He then quietened his tone significantly. "And if I happened to enjoy it, well that's just an unavoidable bonus."

"Unavoidable bonus my ass," Yoongi mumbled to himself, shifting his weight between his feet with nerves. "And that's not the point. The point is that you didn't even ask him if that's what he wanted before you did it. _That's_ what I have a problem with."

"Oh." His words silenced the playful chatter that they had accumulated, and Namjoon sighed, pushing his hair back with his hand before turning towards Taehyung, who now looked like he'd just been kicked in the stomach with his favourite pair of Gucci boots.

"Listen, Tae, we all know you didn't mean anything by it, and that in any other situation, this would probably be completely okay," he said carefully, using his fingers to lift up the younger's chin, meeting his eyes and twisting his lips up encouragingly. "But Jungkook hasn't had the ability to speak up for himself before, and we want to be able to give him that here. It's okay if you want to kiss him on the forehead, but in the future, you need to ask and allow him to say either yes or no, because that way he knows that here he has a voice, and that his consent is valued. You understand? I'm not angry with you, baby, I'm just checking that we know how we should all act around him with certain things."

Taehyung nodded, sniffling slightly and wriggling into a more upright position. "I'm sorry," he murmured, staring back at Namjoon with sincerity shining in his pupils. "You're right, I know, and I should have asked him first. It's just..." He hesitated, letting out a heavy breath, allowing his face to crease up forlornly before smoothing itself back out. "He was so _scared_ , and I didn't want him to be scared anymore. The way he smiled at me afterwards is a moment I'd never trade with anyone, and I don't want him to feel like we're acting as if he's broken glass needing to be glued back together, because he's not, and he's so much more than that. I just want him to be happy, hyung."

Jin couldn't help it as he flung himself at the younger, squeezing him gently as he tucked his face into the top of Taehyung's hair, messing it up a little with his actions. "Ah, Taehyung-ah! This is so cringe-worthy but that was the most mature thing I have ever heard come out of your mouth. Ugh, I think I love you all too much!" The eldest's ramblings caused them all to burst out laughing, Jin protesting half-heartedly at their mild harassment whilst he used Tae as a human shield from their not-so-offensive retorts. Namjoon shook his head but joined in, enjoying the harmonious atmosphere they always managed to create due to years of being with each other and learning everybody's individual needs and personalities.

He knew that even though Taehyung may act like a quirky idiot around 90% of the time, and a complete ball of cuddly mushiness the other 10%, he was probably the most emotional out of all of them (save from Hobi who managed to carry the largest amount of happiness with him wherever he went). His deep and often meaningful thoughts were ones you'd expect from somebody twice his age, and the amount of understanding he had in reading situations and the way people felt was phenomenal, always knowing just what to say or do to help all of them calm down or feel marginally better if something happened.

That was all most likely what made Tae's ability manifest in the way it did. Circulating entirely around emotions and people's feelings. Namjoon knew he'd never change it for the entire universe.

"I think we should go back and check on the other two babies," Hoseok piped up, who was currently rubbing his palms along Yoongi's back expertly to detach the tension that had derived itself there with the ever-changing flow of discussion. "Who knows what they've managed to get up to whilst we've been gone. I dread to even think."

"Stop being so overdramatic," Yoongi replied, shrugging out of the hold easily with a shoulder roll and an appreciative grunt passing through his lips. "But I haven't yet had the chance to get a kiss from Jiminie today, so I'll concede to your suggestion." Everybody chuckled, Jin flicking him lightly across the forehead. "Abuse," he commented dryly. "I call abuse right here."

"I seem to vaguely remember you nearly throwing your footwear at Taehyung-ah only a few moments ago," the eldest quipped back with an equal amount of sass.

Yoongi merely shrugged with an apathetic look glossing over his face. "I haven't the faintest idea to what you're on about, Jin-hyung. Only that it is clearly a terrible assumption."

Taehyung, on the other hand, was looking overly offended, a hand placed over his heart as he reared his head back. "Excuse me, Yoongi nearly did what now?"

Hoseok giggled, pulling Tae off the chair he was sat on and dragging him through to the kitchen door, the others not far behind as they all made their way back to the remainder of their little family. "Don't mind them, Tae. I'll always love you."

"Thank you, Hobi-hyung," he whispered, wiping away an imaginary tear in fake anguish.

"Children. I'm actually in a relationship with a group of children," Namjoon stated, for the second time in two days wondering how on earth he'd even managed to survive with such an oddly matched group as a gang, whilst the two eldest laughed at him from the side.

Taehyung halted just before the door, preventing any of them from advancing through. Without turning back to them, he curled in on himself slightly, reverting back to a more sombre mood than a second previous. "I am sorry," he said quietly, the room now silent enough for him to easily be heard. "I'll ask Jungkookie's permission from now on before I act, I promise. Even with forehead kisses."

"That's good," Hoseok answered, leaning forwards and planting a lingering kiss on Tae's lips before pulling back, smiling at them all. "Now _let's go_ already!"

The five of them opened the door to the dining room, hoping both Jimin and Jungkook had stayed there whilst they were chatting and were waiting at least semi-patiently for their ungodly return. "Do you think we should tell Jimin-ah the same thing, or do you think it'll be alright?" Jin questioned softly from behind Namjoon just before they entered, to which the leader shook his head slightly.

"I think it’ll be alright. Jimin’s smart. He’ll know how to act."

That turned out to be the wrong thing to say, almost like a jinx, because the minute the doorway was open, the five were met with the pleasant view of Jimin playfully pressing gentle little kisses all over Jungkook's crown and cheeks, mindfully avoiding his lips, whilst the youngest of them giggled adorably as he did so, scrunching his face up in a way that indicated the action tickled, sounds of content escaping from his lips.

The sight shocked everyone into a momentary stupor, Hoseok's jaw physically dropping open as he struggled to process the sudden turn of events in the space of around five minutes.

"So," Taehyung drawled lowly, raising his eyebrows at Namjoon and smirking triumphantly. "You really think it should be me you're worrying about with all of this?"

Namjoon abruptly hung his head, letting out a groan and imagining how good it would be to bury his face into a pitfall of sand right there and then, preferably on a desert island alone somewhere, until the world swallowed him up whole and he didn't have to deal with watching over for these absolute idiots anymore.

Because honestly, he was certain it was surely going to kill him at some point.

* * *

 

Jungkook and Jimin watched the backs of the other five recede out into the kitchen, closing the doors behind them as the remaining two sat crossed legged on the couch, the elder still appearing quite shaken by what had just happened.

In all honesty, Jungkook was used to the nightmares, considering they occurred rather regularly in his old house, but that didn't necessarily mean that he _enjoyed_ them, having hoped that him leaving that place would possibly make them disappear (with no such luck, apparently).

Every single time he dreamt of those hands, ready to claim him through the shadows spiralling out across the walls, a scream willed itself to rip from his throat, and he had to use all his restraint to not allow that to happen, instead curling deeply into the smallest shape possible and residing himself to his fate.

But this time was different. This time, when those hands came for him, breaking him down piece by piece and were ready to deliver the absolute worst of his punishment, they suddenly receded as quickly as they'd come, instead being replaced by the warmest, most calming presence he'd ever felt, reaching out for him with unrelenting openness and simply begging him to take hold, to take him away from the chamber he was trapped in.

Jungkook had been more than willing to oblige, firmly grabbing hold and allowing the comforting aura to lift him up, away from the scene he thought he was locked in and back into the light- into the cosiness and warm familiarity of the boys' home, _his new home_.

It took him a moment to relocate himself, blinking rapidly a few times to ensure that this was real and the worried faces of his hyungs wasn't merely a figment of his imagination. Which it wasn't, and the youngest felt the deep setting emotion of pure affection writhe within his chest, blooming outwards and making him feel unbearably fuzzy inside.

He realised that the overwhelmingly calming presence had been Namjoon, who was slumped beside him on the couch, blurting out apology after apology in a series of broken rambles, tears cascading down his face, and looking the most vulnerable Jungkook had ever seen him since his arrival only a day previous.

The single thought flying through his mind was how he didn't want someone like Namjoon- someone so strong and caring and thoughtful- to ever feel like he'd done something wrong when he’d done the exact opposite.

So, the youngest reached out, clasping the elder's face within his own pale hands, carefully wiping away the wetness there and offered a smile, a whole one, attempting to convey his gratitude with one simple gesture, unsure of how to properly express himself to them yet.

"It's okay," he whispered, making the elder look up. "You got me out of there. Again. It’s okay.”

And that seemed to do the trick, because then it suddenly became a blur of sweetness and beauty- Namjoon's dimpled smile finally shining through the sadness and Taehyung's comforting words lessening the haze around him, the love he was receiving from people he'd practically only just met larger than anybody he'd ever known.

Which was why when Tae had lent down carefully, delivering an unexpected tender kiss to the crown of his head, and all Jungkook could feel was the softness of those lips and the delicate breaths bristling his hair from the elder's nose, the youngest had to physically restrain himself from collapsing into the awaiting arms of the people around him, because he was quite content right there and then to become a part of their family, and let them look after him like he knew they would.

"Are you okay, Kookie?" A quiet voice broke through the silence that had settled, drifting over and shocking Jungkook from him stupor. His eyes met Jimin's, the latter intently staring at him with mixed pools of worry and reassurance. It made Jungkook feel, above all else, undeniably safe, and he nodded softly.

"I am," he replied in a small voice, the tremor in his tone still existent but having died down a lot since he last spoke. The expression on Jimin's face conveyed that he really didn't believe him, which was understandable, and so he maintained eye contact and tried to look just as sincere as he felt. "I will be."

"That's good," the elder said, releasing a mild breath and sinking back into the sofa with a heavy thump. His gaze never stopped roaming around Jungkook's features, and normally the youngest would feel slightly self-conscious about something like that, but Jimin held himself like he was trying to singlehandedly lift the entire universe up on his shoulders, and Jungkook felt that he wanted to try and lessen that load somehow, if even by a little.

He opened his mouth to say something, anything to quench the other's burdens, but Jimin quickly beat him to it. "I was so scared, Kookie," he admitted, a single tear cascading itself down his cheek and onto his neck, with more threatening to spill over from the corners of his eyes. Jungkook knew that he must have looked bewildered, because the elder continued choking out his despair despite the thick array of sorrow latching onto him.

"You looked so _small_ , and all I wanted to do was run over there and hold you, keep you safe from everything, but it was like I couldn't make myself _move_. When you woke up, it was like you were somewhere else, like you weren't even with us, and I know you've only been here for literally a day, but I already can't imagine you not being here anymore. I just felt so helpless, and it's crazy because you're so strong and I can't... I don't know how you do it, but you deserve so much love and I want to give it to you, but _I don't know how_ , and I don't know where the line is."

Jimin was left panting by the end, having curled in on himself as he confessed the anguish he had kept cooped up inside, the tears he'd been keeping at bay now raining down torrentially across his face. Jungkook was so shocked by the elder's words that he was struggling to know what to say, how to comfort the other, but as he saw Jimin continue to cry silently- the willpower he'd had to stop himself from revealing his sadness having vanished along with his speech- the younger knew he didn't have to say anything to help his hyung.

He crawled over, tentatively reaching out his arms and gently pulled Jimin into his chest, allowing the other to slump against him, securing him safely as he rubbed soothing circles into the elder's back, much like Jin had done for him whilst he was recovering from his nightmare. Jimin gripped the end of his sweater in a death clamp, fully allowing the sobs to wrack his frame as all the guilt he shouldn't possess rolled off him in waves.

Jungkook shushed him, still new at caring for someone else (in all honesty he was making this up as he went along) but trying his hardest to ground Jimin again, quietening his cries and rocking his body slowly back and forth in a careful motion. "It's okay, hyung, I promise. I'm okay, and you're okay. We're all going to be okay." The consoling words flowed from his tongue with ease, and the two stayed in that same position for a few minutes whilst Jimin gradually calmed down, neither willing to remove themselves from the arms of the other.

After the five-minute mark was hit, Jimin murmured out a muffled, "You promise it's going to be okay, Jungkookie?" The question startled the younger, but he immediately nodded, nuzzling his nose into the elder's soft hair and inhaling his calming scent to settle the electric sparks flying as the other snuggled against him.

"I swear on every single planet in the solar system," he said. "So, unless you want the entire world to suddenly spontaneously combust, you'd better believe me." That elicited a faint laugh from Jimin, and Jungkook's heart soared at the sound. He sighed momentarily, allowing himself to fully take in the overwhelming feelings he held for these people, feelings which he couldn't place a name to just yet. "Life just has a funny way of sorting itself out like that. I mean, it brought me to you, didn't it?"

Jimin lifted his head slightly, crescent eyes wistfully staring up into Jungkook's own, and he swore he could feel his breath falter at the sight (again). He appeared to be thinking, the gears in his brain clinking away so loudly you could almost hear them, but eventually he just huffed, choosing to say, "I thought it was Hoseok-hyung who brought you here to us," instead, which in turn made the youngest giggle as well.

"Maybe Hobi-hyung _is_ my life," he responded, earning a jealous cry to escape from the other's lips before he could stop himself. More laughs continued to erupt from Jungkook's mouth, and Jimin couldn't help but bask himself in the sound, enjoying the notion of it bouncing off the walls, so carefree and joyful. He felt glad that they could give Jungkook that sense of freedom, but he also couldn't help the feelings of longing that swirled around within his stomach with increasing trepidation as he watched the younger, admiring his face and natural beauty.

"Can I ask you a question, Kookie?" Jimin suddenly uttered, a miniature blush settling along his cheeks as the words left his mouth. Jungkook smiled fondly- only a small smile, but still an existent one- an action which he was certain he'd never perform again until he arrived here and was bombarded with an aura of what an actual home felt like.

He gave a quiet hum to prompt the elder to continue, and Jimin inhaled a sharp breath before plucking up the courage to plough on with whatever it was he was curious about. "Do you... no, wait, I meant... damn it." He huffed, frustrated at his ability to construct coherent sentences, and he exhaled deeply, starting again. "Why are you okay with the six of us dating each other?"

It had been a question that had been burning on his tongue since they'd come out to the teenager only a few hours ago, and the elder felt like he couldn't hold it in any longer lest he explode. "What?" Jungkook appeared surprised, eyebrows raised, and hold having slackened as he moved backwards to fully look at Jimin. "Why wouldn't I be okay with it?"

Jimin sighed, also shifting himself so that they were both somewhat still in each other's grasp but were able to see each other's faces a lot clearer. "Because... not a lot of people are," he answered meekly, subconsciously down casting his eyes and hunching his shoulders forward a bit, which made the younger in turn grip his arms a little tighter and rub soft, tiny patterns into his skin, emitting a semblance of peace between them.

The movement allowed him to compose himself, and he looked back up just as quickly, chancing a quick glance into Jungkook's irises as he did so. Chocolate eyes gazed right back up at him with nothing but confidence and faith, and Jimin could feel the rising courage that flooded through his veins. When he spoke again, his voice came out stronger and less forced.

"It's just, I don't know what you've been through, Kookie. I want to know, so that we can help you heal and fully bring you into our little family, but I want to go at your pace as well. I hate thinking about everything that your father could have done to you, but it also hurts thinking about what he could _say_. I just figured that he was probably one of the more conservative types, so I can't help but wonder why his most-likely ideology hasn't rubbed off onto you."

He trailed off towards the end, speaking his thoughts out loud making him realise how unjustified they seemed. He was practically asking the youngest why he wasn't a complete asshole, and he became tempted to let out a groan at his obvious idiocy.

But Jungkook didn't seem to mind.

He merely shrugged, leaning over to mindfully rest his head atop Jimin's smaller frame, and hummed again, the action creating a serene buzz against the elder's shoulder.

"I'm not too sure," he eventually responded, both choosing to look ahead instead of at each other, bodies remaining pressed close. "I think it's because he never really spoke with me about anything like that. So, I didn't _know_ that it wasn't seen as conventional until you guys brought it up. But at the end of the day, to me, what matters most is whether you're all happy. I don't care if others find your relationship strange, because when I look at all of you together, all I can see is pure happiness and love, and I honestly think that's a whole lot more than some people can manage."

Jimin gaped at Jungkook in full fascination, mind rearing with the sudden maturity that seemed to emit from the younger's lips. He could feel that his mouth was hung open slightly, unable to comprehend how a 17-year-old was able to be so much more mindful than most of society, and he struggled restraining himself from projecting his ever-growing mass of feelings for the youngest onto him as he sat there in his full ethereality, completely innocent from hatred and judgement.

"Can I kiss you?" he found himself whispering without hesitation, silently berating himself with the forwardness his emotions forced upon him. Jungkook's eyes widened, and Jimin mistook it for being scared, so he swiftly shook his hands and tried to reassure the younger. "Like Taehyung did. And only if you want to."

The notion took a few seconds to register in Jungkook's mind, but once it did he felt his cheeks begin to burn, and the craving storm of eagerness whirred along his muscles once again at the thought of feeling Jimin's lips pressed against his own skin. There was also a nauseating feeling of guilt as those thoughts crossed his mind, and he bit his mouth nervously.

"Won't the others mind?" he asked tentatively, wringing his hands together in obvious worry. The fact that he was constantly thinking so much about everyone else and never about himself made the elder's heart ache for the younger, and he wanted to snuggle him tightly once again, as if that could solve all the problems they faced.

Jimin chose to merely shake his head instead, rubbing the side of the other's hair fondly. "Believe me, as long as I have an agreement from you, one of the only things they'd feel would be happiness. I can promise you that."

Jungkook still appeared hesitant, but he couldn't repress the feelings he was having forever, and so he figured that a little bit of selfishness wasn't the worst thing in the world. He gradually lifted his gaze to meet the elder's eyes. "Then, please," he murmured, longing and anticipation slipping into his tone.

Those words were all the prompts Jimin needed. The second he had confirmation from the younger, he crashed forwards and placed a whole-hearted kiss on Jungkook's forehead, melting at the sensation of his smooth skin beneath his lips and the baby tufts of hair wafting across his nose. The embrace was short, too short for his liking, and before he could stop himself he pressed another one against the other's cheek, feeling the excitement set every nerve he had on fire.

Jungkook was grinning, a large smile present on his face revealing his beautiful bunny teeth that made him look younger than he truly was, and his ashen skin was tinted with a rosy pink. The sight made Jimin subconsciously sigh wistfully, and he delivered a third unsuspecting kiss to the youngest's chin, his mouth moving on its own accord all over Jungkook's face without ever once touching his delicate lips, determined to stop the moment the other asked him to.

But Jungkook was giggling loudly, a carefree and joyous laugh ringing out into the atmosphere and clearing away any doubt or sorrow that Jimin had originally been keeping inside. He clutched his side, nose scrunching up and eyes squeezing shut as the small acts of love (though no one needed to know that just yet) were given in unconditional amounts all over the younger's face.

Eventually they had to come to a standstill, however that was only because of the alerting cough of recognition that had been loudly administered from the other side of the room, calling both of their attention to the presence of the other five residents as they stared gobsmacked in the doorway from the kitchen.

Instead of hateful glares like Jungkook was expecting to receive, they were all standing in the doorway with similar looks of fondness and very mild jealously akin across their faces, and the youngest found himself blushing once more and glancing down sheepishly.

Jimin laughed loudly, swinging an arm around Jungkook's shoulder blades and bringing him in even closer, nosing the side of his face with ease. "Don't worry," he called out loudly to the other occupants of the room, a wide smile plastered onto his face, creating chubby cheeks the younger couldn't help but want to pinch as he stared at them.

He breathed out, finding himself subconsciously smiling in return. Jimin only grinned further, sticking his tongue out at the others playfully. "I asked him if I could do it, so you can't tell me off for this."

Jungkook couldn't help but feel like this was now his home, especially as everyone began laughing too at Jimin's words. He revelled in the constant warmth of for once actually being and feeling _safe_ , and allowed himself to whole heartedly join in, not caring as he fully relaxed into his new surroundings, ready for whatever was to come next.

* * *

 

It had been almost a week since Jungkook had agreed to stay with the boys, and he was settling into his new life quicker than he'd originally expected.

Particular arrangements had to be sorted out first, with one of the main ones being where exactly the youngest would be sleeping. They didn't really have a spare bed simply lying around, and despite his continuous insistence of, " _It's okay, I can just sleep on the couch or on the floor, I don't mind,_ " there was no way they were going to allow somebody as precious as Jungkook be downcast to the hard-wooden ground of all places when night-time was supposed to be a comfortable experience.

It just was not going to happen- at least not on their watch.

A hushed debate had broken out in the dining room whilst Jungkook had dropped off on the sofa (Namjoon having taken the liberty of draping a fluffy blanket over his curled up form) and they eventually came to the conclusion that he would have to rotate between sleeping with them in their beds- much to the amusement of Yoongi, Taehyung and Hoseok and only provoking intense nervousness in Namjoon, Jin and Jimin.

The youngest had still attempted to refuse the offer when they told him, frantically blurting out his worries that it would only inconvenience them all, and that he would take up too much room and they wouldn't get proper sleep etc. but they all knew it was ridiculous- even though he might've been moderately taller than Yoongi and Jimin, his slight frame made him appear ten times smaller and about one hundred times more fragile than he realised, and him being an inconvenience to them was as likely to happen as a pig flying over a mountain with rainbow wings.

They'd all thoroughly insisted, and so eventually he agreed, starting the rotation in Jin's bed and then moving down with age (which annoyed Taehyung greatly because he ' _wanted midnight cuddles_ ' with the youngest as quick as possible) but the order was the fairest way they could devise to keep everyone happy.

When he asked about the seventh day, because the last time he counted there were only six of them to share beds with and a total of seven weekdays, they shook down his cautious thoughts and reassured him that they always planned to have at least one night where they all sleep in the living room together, with the furniture pushed back and mattresses pulled down the stairs along with as many quilts as possible piled on top, creating a huge fort, where it rather quickly transforms into a ginormous cuddle party (with a few more intimate and romantic moments here and there).

Jungkook still felt like he was intruding, especially as the boys tried to be as honest as they could and admitted that there would be kissing between the six of them, opting to give him the choice of sleeping in Namjoon's bed that night if it made him uncomfortable. They reassured him that his presence wouldn't make them nervous to have closer moments with each other, but they were afraid of it being too much and him feeling more of an outsider than as a part of their family.

The younger timidly said that he didn't mind, and that he was fine with them doing that even if he was present, eliciting a simultaneous sigh of relief from the others. Even still, Yoongi comforted Jungkook with an arm around the shoulder, telling him that he didn't participate in the kissing as much as _some_ of the others on that night (staring hard at Taehyung and Jimin) mainly because he preferred actually _sleeping_ when the sun went down, and so he'd gladly snuggle with the youngest so that they could both fall asleep instead.

Jungkook had tried to hide the blush that arose on his cheeks, mumbling out an agreement and some thanks as his stomach performed somersaults, and the arrangements were cleared.

That brought them to where they were currently, with the problem they'd only just now noticed, nearly an entire week later. Taehyung was teaching the youngest how to correctly use chopsticks at the dinner table- praising him with tiny snacks he'd stolen from Jin's master cupboard whenever he successfully picked up some food and guiding his hand if he ever slipped up.

Despite what the others said, it was definitely not just an excuse to hold Jungkook's hand (at least not entirely).

Jimin wandered into the kitchen where they were currently residing, internally cooing at the youngest as he gradually learnt how to use the utensils, before turning his attention to Yoongi, who was also present in the room.

The elder was perched in a strange crouching position on top of one of the chairs, leaning precariously over a book he had in his hands and furrowing his eyebrows in a cute fashion whenever he read something interesting.

Jimin hated himself for going to interrupt him, especially as he looked like he was in _the zone_ , but he couldn't find one of his favourite shirts that he was _positive_ he had left upstairs, and due to Yoongi being relatively observant most of the time, he was the wisest choice for the younger to locate his missing clothing.

"Yoongi-hyung," he whined, lacing his voice with a sickening amount of sweetness in the hopes that it would soften the elder up just enough to at least attempt to help him.

Yoongi glanced up, catching Jimin's eyes and giving him a questioning look in response. Jimin grinned widely, taking that as an agreement to help, and dumped himself down upon the elder's lap almost immediately, rolling his head back onto his shoulder. The other grunted and squeezed his eyes shut, pretending to be crushed under his weight. "I can't find my chequered shirt anywhere, and I was hoping that you'd seen it and could give your favourite boyfriend some much needed advice."

"Huh, I didn't realise Jin-hyung needed advice," he replied, running his fingers gently through Jimin's silky hair, and the younger focused on trying not to let out a sigh at how good it felt. Yoongi had piano fingers, meaning that when he performed actions like this it was a million times better than anything a professional could ever do.

"Hey," he protested weakly, jabbing his thumb into his own chest. " _I'm_ your favourite. Don't you forget it."

"Yes, sir," came the retort, accompanied by a mini mock salute, and Jimin chuckled lightly. "And for the record," Yoongi continued, starting to resume with reading his book. "The last time I saw your shirt, Kookie was wearing it. It really suited him. I'm assuming you're talking about the red and black one."

"That's the one," he confirmed quietly. His gaze moved to settle down upon the youngest, who was smiling widely as Taehyung fed him some chocolate from Jin's snack box (oh, Tae was going to be in _so_ much trouble). He reviewed what Jungkook was dressed in quickly, noticing something that made him more confused as he did so. "Yoongi-hyung, isn't that your hoodie?"

Yoongi's head snapped up, eyes also catching the sight of Jungkook laughing quietly to the side, dressed in a pair of simple (albeit a bit loose) pants, which most likely belonged to Hoseok, and... yep, that was definitely his hoodie.

He nodded, dumbfounded, novel completely forgotten about as he stared at the younger, revelling at how adorable he appeared draped in the black garment. Yoongi initially bought it a couple of sizes larger because he preferred baggy clothing, meaning the thing absolutely drowned Jungkook, and the sleeves were pulled right down over his fingers to create cute little sweater paws.

Yoongi thought that it had never looked better on someone.

"Hey, Kookie," Jimin called out abruptly, pausing whatever conversation Tae and Jungkook had been having, pulling their gazes over to him. The youngest flashed a smile, and Jimin felt himself internally melt. "How come you're wearing Yoongi-hyung's hoodie?"

Yoongi gave him a sharp jab with his elbow under the table, mainly because he'd never said that he _minded_ the other wearing his clothes (he actually secretly loved it), and he didn't want the younger to feel bad about it and stop simply because Jimin couldn't keep his big mouth shut. It didn't appear like he noticed Yoongi's hit though, as he was too preoccupied with giving all his undivided attention to the youngest two.

Jungkook paused, looking down at the hoodie on his body as if he was only just realising that it didn't belong to him. "Huh," he murmured, almost to himself, confusion flashing across his expression. "I completely forgot it was yours, hyung. Jin-hyung said I could wear it a few days ago and I've kept forgetting to put it back."

He clasped the bottom of the clothing in his hands and began to slowly pull it up over his head, only getting around halfway on his chest before Taehyung held his wrists carefully and pushed them back down, chuckling at him.

"I don't think he minds, Jungkook," Taehyung reassured him, giving a quick ruffle to his hair. Yoongi hummed, nodding along and offering a gummy smile in agreement.

"Don't worry about it, Kookie," he said, waving off any forms of protest from the younger. "You can keep it. It looks better on you than it ever did on me, anyway."

Jungkook looked startled, but eventually his lips slowly turned up, eyes glistening as he expressed his happiness. ""Thanks, hyung! You don't have to. You can have it back if..."

"Nope, none of that, please," Yoongi interrupted, leaning his head back over the chair to gaze up at the ceiling. "It's yours now. Not mine. Not anyone else's. Just yours."

"That actually reminds me," Jimin said, cautiousness slipping into his voice. Yoongi and Taehyung glanced at him, Tae raising an eyebrow in question, whilst the youngest seemed too thrilled with the prospect of Yoongi actually giving him his hoodie that he was no longer listening. "Kookie doesn't actually _have_ any of his own clothes, does he?"

The three-elder’s stopped, pausing to ponder over the last week, and what exactly Jungkook had been wearing. When they realised that he had in fact only been wearing what they provided for him out of their own attire, guilt simultaneously seeped its way into their bodies.

"Damn, I didn't even realise," Taehyung groaned, face palming at the sudden knowledge.

Jin then decided to enter the room, whistling a tiny tune, but slowed down as he noticed the building tension. He furrowed his eyebrows. "What didn't you realise?" he asked slowly.

Yoongi exhaled heavily, running a hand down the front of his face. "Jungkook doesn't have any of his own clothes, and we haven't bought any for him, meaning he's been walking around in technically loose hand-me-downs for days now."

The youngest finally decided to tune himself back into the conversation, frantically realising what was going on and attempted to placate the situation. "No, no! It's okay! I don't mind. Your clothes are all really comfortable, trust me! I don't need new things, you don't need to buy me anything. You've already done so much, and..."

"Nonsense," Jin cut him off, already retracting into the living room for a few minutes before stalking back in to where the others were, a couple of wads of money lying in his palm. The second the youngest noticed them he opened his mouth to argue, but a stern look from the eldest made him close it once again.

He turned to the other three. "Yoongi, Tae, you two take Jungkook clothes shopping right now and use this to buy him whatever he fancies. Shirts, pants, jackets, pyjamas, any other _necessities_ he may need." His gaze drifted down to look the younger's feet, tutting as he saw him wearing one of Taehyung's old pair of trainers. "A pair of decent footwear would be good too."

The two in question nodded immediately, scrambling up to get themselves ready, Jungkook reluctantly being dragged along with them as they went. "What can I do, hyung?" Jimin questioned, moving to follow them. Jin placed a warm hand on his chest, preventing him from going any further.

" _You_ can stay here and cuddle with me, mister," he answered, already manoeuvring them both over into the dining room and squashing onto the sofa. The younger tried to object and get back up, but Jin's hold was irrefutably stronger than his. "Don't think that I've forgotten that you were _shot_ last week, even if you seem to have done. I'm not ready yet to let you leave without more of us there to protect you, and I know it may seem a bit suffocating, but please, just humour me for now."

It was said in a straight tone, but Jimin could hear the underlying fear and worry coming through that the eldest couldn't hide, and he finally agreed, slumping down and getting comfortable within the other's arms.

Yoongi, Taehyung and Jungkook soon returned, bundled in coats with the two elders of the three keeping a tight hold on the youngest's hands, squishing him between them like a double wall. "We'll try and be quick," Yoongi reassured, sending a wink over to the two on the furniture.

"Be safe," Jin called out, hugging Jimin tighter, and the younger realised that maybe the eldest wasn't just scared for his safety because of the incident a week ago. Maybe he was actually secretly worrying over all of them, whenever they left the house. Jimin clutched Jin's hands around his chest firmly in consolidation, trying to convey his understanding to the elder. If the other noticed, he didn't let on, except pulling him even closer to his own body. "Oh, and don't let Taehyung buy anything absurd!"

His final cry was drowned out as the trio exited their home, gradually making their way down the road and through to the town, ignoring the hustling people that were desperately rushing past them to get to wherever they needed to be.

It didn't take them too long to get to the store where the majority of them frequently bought their clothes (except Taehyung who occasionally saved up to order his favourite designer brands online); a simple 20 minute walk was all they needed, with Taehyung and Yoongi forming a protective barrier around Jungkook as they moved, both of their arms circling securely over his shoulders.

When they entered and were safely inside, the youngest looked up at the other two expectantly, as if he figured that they were going to choose his new clothes themselves and he'd only have the liberty to watch.

Yoongi sighed, pulling Jungkook into a miniature side hug, using one hand to rub the nub of his ear affectionately. "It's all up to you, Kook. You can choose whatever you want to wear, and we'll buy it for you. No problem."

"Within reason," Taehyung interjected, holding up his wallet with a sheepish grin. "Hyung only gave me a certain amount of cash, so technically we can't buy you _everything_."

Jungkook giggled, causing the two elders to relax significantly despite feeling so hostile only moments prior. They didn't know why but wandering outside knowing that Jungkook's entire safety literally rested in their hands felt unbelievably daunting. "I know, hyungs. I'd honestly be happy with getting anything from here! The fact that you guys are willing to buy me even one thing makes my heart just want to burst."

The indication of events that the sentence gave made both Taehyung and Yoongi sad, but seeing Jungkook feel so cheerful with them and no longer protesting at them buying him things made up for it almost straight away. Yoongi gripped him tighter, Taehyung roaming his eyes around at the awaiting aisles in search of where exactly to start.

His gaze focused on the sleepwear aisle almost instantly, one piece standing out to him about a hundred times faster than anything else, and the second he imagined the youngest in it he knew they had to buy it for him, no matter what.

"Okay, you are _so_ getting that," Taehyung announced with a determined look in his eyes, rushing off in the direction of his desired aisle. Jungkook initially felt content at how excited both of his hyungs were at the prospect of getting new clothes for him (and he couldn't deny a similar feeling stirring within his own stomach) but when he turned and saw just what Tae planned to buy for him, he blanched, immediately sprinting after him.

"Hyung, _no!_ "

* * *

 

“Please tell me that’s not what I think it is,” Jin asked, looking down in disbelief at the clothing in Taehyung’s hands as he presented it to the eldest, a smug smile plastered on his face.

“Yup,” Tae confirms, holding it up proudly. “It’s Jungkookie’s pyjama’s.”

“It’s a _Pikachu onesie_ ,” Jin deadpanned, scrutinizing the yellow and black garment as if he thought that if he stared at it for long enough it would somehow disappear. He eyes flicked up to Yoongi, who was watching the exchange with mild bemusement settled on his face. “I sent you with them to _prevent_ things like this from happening!”

“Hey,” he argued, albeit half-heartedly. “You know how Tae gets when he sets his heart on something. And he _really_ wanted that onesie for Kookie. Who was I to stop him?”

“Uh, a responsible adult, maybe? Oh, I forget. I’m the only one of those that we have.”

Yoongi simply stuck his tongue out at him, scrunching up his eyes at the attempted burn, before shrugging and waving Jin off, beginning to turn and advance up the stairs. “I’m gonna go and find Jimin-ah or something. He’ll be a lot more fun than you are right now. Good luck with this, _hyung_.”

The eldest glared at the retreating figure who was chuckling to himself, folding his arms over his waist in what he knew was a very parental like manner. “I swear, he gets sassier every day,” he muttered to himself, tapping his foot slightly on the wooden floor.

He refocused his attention on the two youngest in the room, one of which who was still exciting himself over the nightwear he’d insisted on buying, the other draped forlornly over the table, staring at Taehyung as if he’d grown two heads.

“Hyung, do I really have to wear that?” Jungkook questioned quietly, fiddling with his fingers. The other nodded enthusiastically, grinning widely as he spoke.

“You’ll look so _cute_ , Jungkookie, trust me!” he assured, eyes glistening as he pictured the youngest in the clothing. “Don’t you think, hyung?”

Jin appeared startled at the question, immediately ready to deny the notion on behalf of Jungkook who was looking a little nervous at having to wear such a bright piece of sleepwear to bed, but the second the image attacked his mind, he found that no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t bring himself to lie to them. “I mean,” he choked out, feeling flustered. “He wouldn’t exactly look… _not-cute_ …”

Taehyung whooped, giddiness intensifying with the elder’s words, whilst Jungkook merely groaned. Jin at least had the decency to look apologetic. “Just _imagine_ it, hyung,” Taehyung rambled. “It’s a Sunday night, we’re all getting ready in our amazing pillow fort, courtesy of Jiminie and I, prepared to both laugh and cry at Guardians of the Galaxy (again), but then, out of the blue, _BAM!_ A wild _Kookachu_ appears!”

“Tae, no,” Jin interrupted.

“Tae, yes!” Taehyung insisted, giggling happily. His energy rolled off of him in waves, and Jungkook couldn’t help it as he started laughing along as well, both of their gorgeous smiles instantly forcing Jin’s lips to turn up without him even realising.

Tae swung an arm around the youngest’s shoulders, leaning over to say something with a dark glint in his eyes as he calmed himself down. “I wish there were more Kookachu’s in the world,” he whispered loudly, making Jungkook splutter some more. “Because if there were, then I would most definitely…”

“Don’t you say it,” Jin warned, his pun-senses tingling intensely.

“ _Catch ‘em all_ ,” he finished with an evil grin on his face, cackling at the groan Jin let out as he clutched his ears dramatically.

“Somebody save me from this hell,” he moaned, secretly loving how funny Jungkook found their antics. “God Tae, even _I_ found that bad. _Me_.”

“I know, that’s why I said it,” Taehyung replied, holding up his hand to high five the youngest, the other responding a little hesitantly as he was still getting used to the new gestures, but doing so nevertheless.

“Okay, _what on earth_ is going on down here?” Namjoon asked, thumping down the stairway with the elegance of an elephant, one eyebrow raised as he also found his gaze caught upon the colourful onesie laid out on the kitchen table. He shook his head, looking back up at the three of them, smiling fondly. “You know what, I’m not even going to ask.”

The two youngest tried to repress further laughs at his statement.

“Are you alright, babe?” Jin questioned, noticing the minor tension lines gathered around the corners of Namjoon’s eyes.

He sighed, nodding after a few moments, his mouth set into a firm line. “Yeah, I just can’t find my glasses anywhere, and I was _really_ hoping they might be down here. There is _no way_ we are staying over at Jinki’s house if I don’t have my glasses.” He stopped his train of thought, backtracking slightly before meeting the sudden bewildered faces of the people around him. “Oh, right, we’re going over to Jinki’s house for a few days. The other three are currently upstairs packing. I forgot to say.”

“I figured,” Jin murmured, rubbing his face tiredly at the new information. Seeing the leader’s continuous stressed out expression, he laughed slightly, shaking his head, before pointing to his own crown to tell him to check there for his spectacles.

Namjoon gingerly touched the top of his hair, letting out a tiny growl as his hand came into contact with what can only be his goddamn pair of motherfucking glasses, which had been sitting on the top of his head the entire time. “I’m never going to question you guys calling me clumsy ever again,” he grumbled.

“That’s great,” Jin said, pushing off the resolution of his miniature problem in favour of his new questions. “So, what were you saying about Jinki’s?”

“Oh, yeah,” Namjoon answered, smiling sheepishly. “Jinki phoned whilst Taehyung, Jungkook and Yoongi were out shopping, asking if we could all visit for a few days because Kookie’s documents are nearly done and he just needs a photo of him before we’re all set.”

Jin nodded, prompting him to continue.

“Also, he _may_ or _may not_ have mentioned Jungkook’s existence to the others, and apparently, they’ve all been practically begging to meet him for the past couple of days. Jinki mentioned something about them ‘ _driving him up the wall_ ’ and that if we didn’t come tonight he was ‘ _most likely going to explode_ ’, but I was only half listening at that point. You left because the other three returned before I could tell you, so that’s why you’re only finding out now.”

“Right,” the eldest exhaled, trying to process all of the information quickly in his brain. He paused, one piece sticking out particularly in his mind. “Wait, did you say _tonight_?!”

Namjoon hummed, curling into himself under the scrutinizing stare Jin was sending him. “I kind of agreed to the first suggestion he said, which happened to be us going tonight and then staying over for the next few days.” He stepped closer to the elder, lowering his voice significantly so the two youngest couldn’t hear the next part. “I think he may also have a new job for us, but I don’t want to scare Jungkook with that just yet. He’ll probably panic over this and I don’t want to stress him out even more when it might not even be necessary.”

As if to prove his point, Jungkook pulled their attention over to him with a tiny, sharp inhalation of breath, making them whip their heads around to see him sitting tensely at the table, Taehyung having tightened his grip on his shoulder, attempting to soothe him with gentle words and his hand gliding up and down the forefront of the youngest’s arm.

“Who’s Jinki, Namjoonie-hyung?” Jungkook asked, refusing to look up, but all of them caught the slight tremble in his voice as he spoke.

The leader walked over almost immediately, carefully lifting the younger’s chin up and smiling once their eyes contacted each other, hoping the small action would help calm him a little. Luckily, it did. “Jinki is the friend of mine that I said was making the documents for you. He’s also technically our boss, but he really hates that term, so we mainly use his first name when referring to him,” Namjoon explained, hoping the other would understand, and not work himself into a panic attack.

It took a couple of seconds, but eventually he nodded his head, offering a miniscule smile that cheered the other three up immensely. “Okay,” he whispered, starting to climb out of his chair before standing awkwardly between them, opening his mouth like he was contemplating on whether to say something else to them. “I… I know that you’re all a gang,” he murmured, cautiously waiting to see their reactions, but if they were surprised, then they masked it very well. “And I just wanted to say… that I don’t mind, at all. I know that you’re all still kind people, and it doesn’t change my opinions of any of you.”

To say they were shocked at what he was saying would be an understatement. Jin desperately wanted to clasp the younger into a tight hug as the words left his mouth, but instead he simply placed a hand on his shoulder affectionately, squeezing to declare both his gratitude and relief.

Not a day went by when the youngest didn’t surprise him.

“Jungkook,” Taehyung breathed out, but the younger continued before he could finish whatever he was going to say.

“I don’t know much about your boss, or what he does, but if you all trust him, then I will too. Now’s probably not the right time to ask about him or that aspect of your lives, so if it’s alright, I’ll do that later, but you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. It’s your life, and you can keep whatever you want private. Now, if we’re leaving tonight, then I should probably go and begin packing, right? Taehyungie-hyung?”

Taehyung startled as Jungkook focused on him, the maturity and honesty in his words having stunned his usual hyper attitude into a momentary stupor. “Y-yeah?” he managed to stutter out, staring in awe at the youngest, trying not to let out his internal squealing at his nickname when the younger used it.

“Can you help me pack?” he asked innocently, taking hold of the other’s hand and squeezing it tightly.

Tae released a breath he didn’t even realise he was holding, dropping his forehead down onto the youngest’s shoulders and chuckling. “Certainly,” he confirmed, squeezing back with an equal amount of conviction. “I have a spare bag upstairs which you can use if you want. I think it should be big enough. It’s a sure good thing we went shopping for you today, huh?”

He turned to the elder two, giving them a quick boxy smile and lifting up his and Jungkook’s entwined fingers. “We’ll be upstairs, hyungs,” he said, grabbing the bagged clothing items from the kitchen table before dragging the younger with him up the stairs, launching into a brand-new story about a random topic to diffuse the seriousness of the previous one.

Jin choked on his own air, struggling to comprehend exactly what just went down in such a short space of time, and whether the younger one’s were ever going to stop making him question their age with their constant sudden bursts of wisdom. “Jungkook… he just…” He paused, not even positive with where he was leading that sentence.

“He’s quite something, isn’t he?” Namjoon said, phrasing it as less of a question and more of a statement as he and Jin watched the two youngest mount the stairs, speaking in hushed tones and silent giggles. He couldn’t help but smile as he gazed at them both.

Jin chuckled, finally finding his feet once again. “Oh yeah,” he replied softly, pulling Namjoon against his chest and hugging him firmly, the leader sinking into his warmth with ease and leaning his head back onto his sternum. “He’s definitely something, alright.”

* * *

 

“So, what’s Jinki-hyung like?” Jungkook asked from his seat at the back of the vehicle.

Jinyoung had visited earlier in the day and delivered a large seven-seater van at Namjoon’s request, smiling warmly at the youngest when he saw him but otherwise not asking any questions (which they all appreciated).

After loading all of their luggage into the car and then getting in themselves- Namjoon and Jin taking the two front seats, Yoongi and Hoseok behind with the three youngest squished at the back (Jungkook squashed in the middle of them, obviously)- they set off, the journey taking around an hour and a half to get to the residence in question.

Most of the elder ones fell asleep rather quickly, and Taehyung and Jimin taught Jungkook how to play _I-Spy_ in the back quietly, subdued giggling being heard every once in a while as one of them found something more comical to say that they’d seen.

His question had come out of nowhere, and Yoongi, who had just been returning from the confines of sleep, startled awake very abruptly. The six of them seemed to glance at each other in unison, no one really sure on how to answer.

“Um,” Jin began, looking over at Namjoon for assistance, huffing when he realised he wasn’t really getting any. “He’s very nice,” he finished lamely, wanting to hit himself at how unconvincing he sounded even though it was the truth.

“He cares about people,” Hoseok supplied, gazing over his shoulder at Jungkook who sat looking curious and collected, leaning fondly on Jimin’s shoulder. “He controls most of the South Side, but any money he gets he gives back to the people, to help them survive. It leaves him in quite a few money troubles sometimes, but he always says he wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“So, he’s not rich then?” Jungkook questioned, furrowing his eyebrows cutely as he thinks. At the shakes of their heads he paused, contemplating. “But if he’s one of the most powerful gang members, then shouldn’t that mean he has a lot of money?”

Namjoon chuckled, sitting up straighter as he looked at the youngest through the rear-view mirror. “Nope, I’m afraid not Kookie. In our line of work, money doesn’t equal power, despite what most people may think, or how the rest of the world seems to operate. Reputation and territory gets you power, and Jinki happens to have a lot of both.”

“How?” The younger’s questions weren’t demanding, only interested, and the leader was happy to answer any inquisition the other had.

“Jinki has a very… _selective_ skill set. He has connections almost everywhere, and he can easily find out anything about anyone. Including their secrets, and whatever it is they may be hiding. Whilst that makes him very powerful and dangerous to a lot of people, this also means that he can only accept very specific jobs, and that sometimes leaves him a little bit more strapped for cash.”

“ _We_ can do a vast array of jobs because of our range of skills, due to there being so many of us, and because of our abilities,” Yoongi interjected, adding to the conversation. “But Jinki’s group has a particular type, each of them only able to take on fixed jobs that don’t always come up. It means that sometimes they may have a lot of money, and other times struggle to pay the bills for the house.” He paused, muttering to himself. “Even then, he refuses to accept money from us. His pride always gets in the way.”

“He has a group?” Jungkook seems bewildered, like this information is new to him. He leans forward with a tiny bit of eagerness. “What are they like? Are they part of the gang as well?”

Taehyung hummed, linking his arm with the youngest’s to pull him closer, much to the annoyance of Jimin who has gotten comfortable. “They aren’t really a gang per say. More of a team. Jinki, Minho and Key, all do their own specified, more _gang-like_ jobs, whilst Jonghyun and Taemin just help them out however they can from behind the scenes. Although that’s because the others are more protective over those two, so they wouldn’t let them do more dangerous stuff even if they wanted to.”

“Why are they protective over them?” Normally continuous questions like this would irk the six of them, but with Jungkook they couldn't help but find it anything except adorable.

“It’s like us with you, Kookie,” Jimin murmurs, taking hold of his hand and clutching it gently to his own chest. “Taemin’s the youngest, so they refuse to let him do anything that could get him hurt. They pay for him to go dancing twice a month though, which I know he enjoys from the times I’ve seen him in the studio. He’s _really_ good as well.”

“As for Jonghyun,” Jin continues, keeping his eyes on the road. “He’s a doctor, though not a qualified one. Might as well be with what he can do, but he doesn’t have the official degree. We don’t really know why they’re so protective over him, because they keep that part of themselves private, which I can’t blame them for, considering they’re all dating and whatnot.”

Jungkook suddenly splutters, eyes shooting up to meet all of their concerned gazes. “I thought you said your kind of relationships were less conventional?” he asked, looking more than a little lost. “Is it just like a _gang thing_ or...?”

The way he says it makes them all start laughing loudly, and he can’t help it when he joins in, the cheerfulness resonating around the vehicle as they grin.

“Not necessarily,” Namjoon finally manages out, wiping away the tiny tears that had gathered in his eyes. He looked out the window, starting to unbuckle his seatbelt when he sees where they are, and Jin slowly pulls into the driveway. “Right, we're here. I think that’s enough questions for the time being. You should probably meet them all before we give you any misguided preconceptions.”

They all exited the car, Hoseok opting to carry both his and Jungkook’s bags despite the younger’s protests, and they gradually walked up the concrete to the doorway of the house.

It was situated in a more rural area of the city, secluded and hidden away with trees covering the sides, but still appearing like a regular old house, two stories high and your average flower garden well-kept in the front. Jungkook couldn’t help but feel nervous as they got closer to the door, shuffling behind most of them before he felt Yoongi’s gentle hand press against his back, curling around his waist in comfort as Jin knocked.

“It’ll be alright,” he reassured the younger quietly in his ear, low enough for the others to not hear. “They’re going to love you, trust me.” And Jungkook found that he did.

Before Jin could lift his hand to knock again, the wooden door suddenly jiggled slightly as someone from the other side fumbled with the lock, steadily opening wide to reveal whoever was on the inside.

It was a slightly smaller man, dressed in an oversized cardigan, loose jeans and a plain white t-shirt, his eyes striking and bold, yet kind and honest, and Jungkook noticed a hint of sadness behind his irises as the person gave him a large smile, face warning away any negative thoughts the youngest had as he did so.

His jawline was impeccable, and his hair was dark brown, swooped over to one side easily whilst still appearing both fluffy and silky. Even though his posture and frame screamed of a soft and sweet vibe, Jungkook couldn’t help but feel like this person was stronger than most people you come across, and he couldn’t help it as he felt himself inexplicably drawn to him.

Not necessarily in the same way his hyungs drew him in to them; but more in the way like an older brother would, like he was someone Jungkook could look up and come to for advice and guidance.

He didn’t really want to think about the way in which his hyungs drew him in after that thought.

“Ah, we were wondering when you all would arrive,” the stranger said, voice as smooth as chocolate and inviting them in. “Minho’s been getting restless. It was quite funny to watch. I was almost hoping you'd be a little later just so it would continue.” He chuckled airily.

“Jonghyun,” Namjoon greeted, nodding his head at him and bowing slightly. “It’s really good to see you again.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the tune of Super Junior *sorry sorry sorry sorry*... yeah, I don't really know how to apologise for not updating in just under a month. I can give excuses like the fact that my depression spiked, or that I've been surviving on around 2 hours of sleep a night, or that I have big exams coming up, but it doesn't help how guilty I feel, so please take my sincere apology and a hopeful promise that I'll try not to do it again (I think if I plan early on for the next chapter I'll be okay).
> 
> BUT, I do hope that the fact that this chapter is longer (11,000 words WHAT) will make up for it a little. I tried to mainly include fluff in this chapter to show the developing relationship, clear up some of the simpler, more solving sort of situations before more angst is thrown in in future chapters! (I'm evil, I know) I introduced SHINee (YAY!!) and I also hinted at a future storyline I have planned with why the boys are so protective over Jonghyun and Taemin- you can all pleasantly take your guesses but I can say that it isn't good... they do get a happy ending though I promise! (pinky promise)
> 
> Just to clear up one final thing- I know that for the clothes Jin could have simply been like WHOOSH and conjured up some swanky new dress wear for Jungkook, but none of the boys like using their abilities for things like that. It's like with Namjoon in the last chapter where he could very easily look into someone's mind and find out everything about them, but he doesn't see it as fair and so refuses to do it unless necessary. With Jin, he hates using his ability for something that others don't have the luxury to, and so will do things the m u n d a n e way until his powers are needed for a mission.
> 
> I'm really sorry I made you all wait this long, and can I say a huge thank you for over 300 KUDOS! WHAT?! I freaked when I saw that and made me want to write faster to finish this (so I hope it isn't rushed). Additionally sorry if any of you get annoyed with me replying to all of you lovely commenters, I just want you all to know how much I appreciate you <3
> 
> Anyhow, until the next chapter!
> 
> Peace, V xx


	5. Chapter Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning: Descriptive Mentions of Abuse (begins when Jinki leads Jin and Namjoon into the room), Swearing

Minho felt so antsy that he couldn’t keep still. It was like there were over a million insects crawling underneath the skin of his legs, and if he didn’t continue to move with every passing second, they’d overflow and spill out of him like a river.

“You know, babe, if you keep pacing like that we’re going to end up with your footprints imprinted into the carpet,” Jonghyun said, sitting on one edge of the couch and smirking at him, one leg crossed over the other.

He groaned, hiding his face in his hands but still not stopping, shuffling around their living room in continuous circles. “I know, I know,” he replied, his thumb making its way into his mouth to bite on the frayed skin there. “I just can’t help it.”

“Bullshit,” Kibum stated, returning to the room with a tray full of four drinks, instantly moving over to Jonghyun and passing him the only mug containing a straw.

“Hot cocoa with whipped cream?” the elder asked, looking hopeful as he clasped the cup by his fingertips.

Kibum laughed. “And marshmallows,” he answered. Jonghyun whooped, blowing the small string of steam away and immediately sipped from the straw, closing his eyes in contentment as the warm liquid travelled through him.

Minho shook his head in fond amusement. “You’re satisfied by such trivial things, hyung,” he murmured, smiling nonetheless.

“Hey!” Jonghyun yelled back playfully. “It’s the little things that matter the most!”

“Which is why I love _you_ ,” the younger teased, revelling in the way the elder instantly bristled and glared back at him, looking ready to pounce in the same way an angry kitten would.

Kibum swatted at the younger with his free hand, settling the tray down to one side before yanking Minho’s lanky body onto the sofa, trapping the other’s arms beneath his smaller frame and inevitably stopping the onslaught of pacing Minho was still doing.

“Enough of that,” he warned, stifling a smile at their antics, attempting to be the mature one in the situation. “You being naturally taller than a lamppost does not give you automatic permission to go picking on your shorter boyfriends, you understand?”

“ _Completely_ ,” Minho said, a smug grin adorning his face.

Jonghyun didn’t seem satisfied. “Oh, come on! Is that it?” he protested, a small pout appearing on his lips. “My pride has been hurt here! I’m going to demand compensation for this!”

Kibum sighed loudly. “Jjong, you can’t claim compensation for something you never had,” he said wistfully, the two younger men watching with delight as Jonghyun huffed at his response.

“I’m gonna tell Jinki-hyung,” he stated. “And then you’re both gonna get it.”

Minho was struggling to stop himself from laughing. “And then you wonder why it’s you we decide to pick on. Your reactions are priceless.”

“I’ll stop talking to both of you,” the elder threatened with a smirk, loving how the others’ faces instantly dropped at his words. Which was understandable, considering that the last time he’d said he’d do it, he shut them out and not uttered a peep to them both for a record time of just over 33 hours (they’d learnt their lesson rather quickly).

Kibum held up his hands in surrender, Minho following suit straight away. “Okay, okay, we’ll stop,” Kibum placated, finally getting a handle on his growing laughter and smiling warmly towards the elder. “You know that we love you.”

Jonghyun looked up at them both, unable to prevent the upturn of his mouth. “Yeah,” he sighed, pushing his hair back with one hand and taking another sip from his drink. “I know.”

Shaking his head fondly, Kibum turned his attention back to the still relatively trapped younger man sitting half in his lap, whose leg had begun bouncing up and down again in agitation, his jitteriness returning with a vengeance now that the teasing had stopped.

“Hey,” he murmured, placing a hand over the moving limb and gently but firmly pushing it down to slow the motion for a while. Minho flicked his gaze over, stare apologetic, top teeth pulling on the skin of his bottom lip out of habit. “What’s up with you, eh? I haven’t seen you this ruffled up for quite some time. What’s going on?”

The younger lowered his eyes, his fingers snaking their way into Kibum’s resting hand, and the elder squeezed back in reassurance. “I’m not too sure,” Minho mumbled, head coming to rest on the other’s shoulder. “I just… I feel really _antsy_ for some reason. Like I can’t keep still. The boys are late and it’s making me nervous and I just… I’m struggling to _not_ move because when I don’t that sick feeling in my stomach comes back, and I hate it.”

“Aw, babe,” Kibum said gently. “That’s just your nerves.” He pressed a soft kiss to the younger’s temple, clasping him closer. “I know you get worried when people arrive late, but it’s only been 10 minutes since the boys were meant to be here, and it _was_ quite short notice since we requested they come over, so I’m not surprised that they’re a little late.”

Minho opened his mouth to retaliate, but Kibum flicked his ear lightly, continuing as if the interruption had never happened. “ _But_ , I promise you that they’ll be here any second and this feeling will go away, okay? Have I ever lied to you?”

As if on cue, there was a sharp knock on the front door, the noise resonating down the hallway and ringing out in the living room, Minho releasing a heavy breath and finally starting to relax his body at the sound.

Kibum looked over at Jonghyun, the elder already standing and brushing himself down before a word was even uttered. “I’ll get it,” he reassured, sending a quick wink their way despite the obvious worry he expressed towards Minho, and Kibum nodded his head in gratitude, Jonghyun flashing his signature smile before exiting the room.

Kibum couldn’t be more grateful for how good Jonghyun was at reading them all.

He shifted the younger on his lap so that Minho was now straddling him despite the other’s long legs, holding onto the collar of his shirt lightly to pull him in a bit. “Told you they’d be here,” Kibum remarked, one corner of his mouth twisting up in triumph.

Minho huffed, hating being proven wrong. “Yeah, well, whatever,” he replied, frowning with his arms crossed.

The elder of the two bit his bottom lip cautiously, before slowly closing the gap between them both, Minho’s breath warm against his lips as the younger raised his eyebrows, smirking. “How long do you think we have until hyung comes back?” Minho whispered to him.

“Around two minutes maximum.”

A small laugh escaped Minho’s lips. “I think that’ll be enough.”

They paused for a split second before closing the gap, Kibum immediately bringing him up closer so that their chests were touching, one of Minho’s hands curling its way into his hair and the other circling around his back firmly, their mouths expertly moving in a steady rhythm. The embrace was fierce, blood roaring past Kibum’s ears as he melted back into the confines of the couch, his own arms snaking around Minho’s waist tightly.

Minho was breathing heavily through his nose, and after a few moments he tentatively ran his tongue over Kibum’s bottom lip, teeth naturally nipping the skin there, and a soft moan escaped the elder’s mouth, making him smile. He tilted his head back slightly, exposing his neck, and Kibum left a trail of tender kisses along his jawline and towards his crevice, Minho’s eyes slipping half shut at the warm feeling it gave him.

“Oh, you have got to be kidding me.” Jonghyun’s offended voice travelled over to them, the pair stilling and whipping their heads around with sharp flushes painting their cheeks. The elder was stood in the doorway, arms folded and foot tapping in annoyance on the floor, staring at them with a simultaneously irritated and loving look on his face. “I leave you alone for _one minute_ and you’re already making out.”

Behind him, clumped together, was Namjoon and his gang, all with varyingly different looks on their faces. Both Namjoon and Jin seemed a little uncomfortable, like they’d just been the ones caught doing something they shouldn’t instead of it being the other way around. The other four appeared less taken aback- Yoongi sporting a knowing smirk and Hoseok supressing a laugh, the remaining two younger ones not too bothered by Minho and Kibum’s actions.

Finally, squashed in the middle of them all was a timid frame, the six around him acting like personal bodyguards as both Namjoon and Jin kept tight hold on both of his hands.

It was quite a cute sight.

Kibum had the decency to lower his eyes in mild shame, but Minho simply grinned, waving his fingers over at their guests before catching Jonghyun’s gaze. “To be fair, hyung,” he drawled, running his fingers along the bottom of Kibum’s spine slowly, the elder gasping sharply at the touch. “You’re like 80% of our impulse control.”

“So this is my fault?” Jonghyun asked sarcastically.

“Exactly,” Minho replied, ducking behind Kibum’s shoulder with a laugh as Jonghyun threw the nearest pillow he could grasp at him, which promptly ended up hitting Kibum in the face instead.

“Hey!” Kibum yelled indignantly.

Jonghyun smiled triumphantly. “Sorry not sorry.”

“Okay, what is with all the commotion in here?” A new voice joined the fray as Jinki wandered into the living room, raising his eyebrows at his boyfriends once he saw Jonghyun half fuming and Minho sniggering from behind a bewildered Kibum, before smiling stressfully towards their guests. “Namjoon-ah, everyone, I’m glad you could make it under such tight circumstances. I apologise for the late request.”

“No, no! Not at all, hyung! It wasn’t a bother, honestly.” Namjoon looked like he was going to self-combust with how quickly he bowed and waved his hands in front of him, mild embarrassment tinging his cheeks and neck red.

Jinki chuckled, feeling some of the tension evaporate from his own shoulders. “Well, if you’re sure,” he said, rubbing his neck awkwardly. He never quite knew what to do in these situations- he knew that he was the leader and that the vast majority of people were looking at him to lead the situation, but frankly he was a lot better at formulating mission plans and quotas than everyday conversations.

Instead, he opted on focusing on the reason for their visit, eyes zeroing in on the skinny body wedged in-between the other group. “And you must be Jungkook, then,” he greeted softly, walking forwards and holding out a hand for him to shake. 

The boy stared at him apprehensively for a moment, clutching the two hands held within his own tighter than they already were for reassurance, and only when both Namjoon and Jin nodded their heads encouragingly at him did Jungkook offer a timid smile, releasing one hold to return Jinki’s greeting properly. “Yes, Sir,” he murmured, bowing his head politely. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Well, isn’t he just a cutie,” Minho commented from behind them, moving over to wind his arms around Jinki’s waist and gaze down upon the smaller stature of their guest, reaching over to slowly and lightly ruffle his hair. “You’re so polite, too! It’s no wonder the other six seem so enthralled by you.”

Jungkook tilted his head in confusion at the same time as Taehyung swung an immediate hand at Minho’s head, the elder laughing as he ducked behind Jinki (despite inevitably being the taller of the two).

“Can you _please_ not imply that, hyung!” Taehyung whined, a slight pout bubbling from his bottom lip as he crossed his arms in distaste. Kibum attempted (and failed) to supress a chuckle at his reaction.

Minho grinned, dragging Jonghyun over to join in the cuddle session he seemed to have started in the middle of the living room. “I’m terribly sorry,” he drawled out, shaking his head. “It’s just that I’ve never had the opportunity to witness true whipped culture before today.”

At that, a few squawks of protest erupted from the other group, Jin instantly pulling Jungkook back as if protecting him from some unforeseen evil, with Hoseok and Namjoon denying the claim at once, their eyes wide and defensive.

Jinki himself couldn’t help but laugh at the antics, impressed that Minho could reduce their hard and dark persona to a nervous wreck in less than a minute upon entering the threshold, simply by mentioning how utterly gone they were for the teenager in their care. “Whoa, guys, it’s okay,” he reassured, catching a couple of breaths as he tried to placate the situation. “Minho-ah didn’t mean anything by it, he’s just not had guests around for a while.”

At his statement, Minho sighed dramatically. “That’s true. I’ve had to deal with these four idiots being the only company I have for _months_ now.”

“You think _you_ can complain?” Jonghyun muttered to himself, and although it wasn’t meant to be heard, the astute hearing of the other three picked up on it almost straight away, hearts twinging with sorrow and guilt at the drawn in look on his face.

Not wanting Namjoon and the others to pick up on it as well (especially Taehyung as he was rather sensitive to the emotions of those around him, despite his attempt to block them out when he was around more people), Jinki started to rapidly divert their attention somewhere else, for everyone’s benefit. Looking around, he counted the head’s of them all, eyebrows furrowing as he came up one short, prompting him to recount the figures.

“Hey, by the way,” he said, pushing away the very faint stirring of worry in his stomach that appeared whenever one of his own wasn’t accounted for. “Where’s Taemin-ah?”

The other group immediately looked around, also seeming confused at the apparent lack of Jinki’s fifth member, but Jonghyun settled his hands on the eldest’s shoulders, warm eyes forcing their gazes to lock together. “He’s gone to get his pay check- he told us earlier, remember?”

“But that was quite a while ago,” Jinki argued, mentally figuring out the amount of time their youngest had been out, the balls of anxiety rising once he estimated around 56 minutes. “It doesn’t take that long to receive a pay check and come back. What if something’s happened?”

In all honesty, the leader was all prepared to call every contact he had that knew Taemin and request that they go out on a manhunt for the youngest, and Jonghyun (knowing his boyfriend all too well) tutted and shook his head, gripping his shoulders tighter.

“He’s fine, Jinks, trust me. Both me and Kibum-ah have a pretty good intuition, and if something _had_ happened to him, at least one of us would’ve felt it by now.” The other man breathed out heavily. “Besides, it hasn’t been too long, and he may have gone shopping or seen a friend along the way. The kid isn’t stupid, he’d text us if he felt unsafe, so can you _please_ put some faith in him before you overturn the entire city searching.”

Jinki bit his lip, not liking the proposal of doing nothing when his panic levels were stretching into dangerous territory, but the hopeful look in Jonghyun’s eyes, paired with the fact that he knew he was making both Minho and Kibum rather anxious as well, prompted him to trust the other’s words. He nodded his head reluctantly, the bright smile and kiss on the cheek from Jonghyun making the decision appear more appealing by the second.

“Thanks, babe,” Jonghyun whispered quietly in his ear as he hugged him. “I know this is hard for you.” And Jinki hugged back even harder, if only to repress the lingering memories of his lovers’ tears and stoic silence from arising once again.

“What did I tell you?” Minho declared loudly from beside them, grabbing everybody’s attention, and Jonghyun rolled his eyes fondly. The younger simply ignored him, forcefully conjoining himself into the hug. “ _Impulse control_.”

“Oh, _piss off_ ,” Jonghyun laughed, giving a playful shove to the younger, and before anyone could react, Jonghyun had Minho pinned on the sofa, mercilessly tickling him whilst Minho howled and tried to shove him off.

Jinki heard Namjoon snort behind him, and when he turned back, he saw most of the other group chuckling to themselves. When Jinki raised an eyebrow in curiosity, Namjoon gave him his signature dimpled smile. “Nobody would guess that gang members do _this_ in their spare time.”

“Touché,” Jinki smirked, choosing to ignore the continuous squeals (Minho insists every time that they’re manly screams) and focused back onto the other group. “I need you and Seokjin to come with me,” he directed at Namjoon, the commanding tone indicating the serious nature of the request, and even though they all gave him a moderately confused look, they nodded all the same, choosing not to ask any questions just yet.

A click of the front door shutting could barely be heard above all the chaos, and so only the slow waft of food entering everybody’s noses, simultaneously swivelling multiple heads in that direction, indicated Taemin’s eventual, ungodly return.

Taemin himself grinned at them all when they saw him, waving at the newcomers with one hand and holding up a large plastic bag in the other. “I got ddukbokkie,” he announced, signalling a quiet whoop from Hoseok.

Jinki, however, marched over to the younger, not giving any indication of his actions until he grappled him into a tight hug, one of Taemin’s arms coming up to return it almost instantly despite the initial puzzlement. “Where have you been?” he mumbled into the fabric of Taemin’s shirt.

Taemin pulled back, cocking his head to the side dubiously, lifting the plastic bag up once more. “Ddukbokkie,” he stated as if it was obvious, and Jinki groaned.

“But why did it take so long?” he pressed, the nervous ache from moments before returning with a vengeance.

Taemin scoffed. “ _You_ try walking all the way to work to pick up a pay check, then go and order food for twelve people, only to walk all the way back!” he argued, laughing to himself. “I wasn’t really in the mood to run, you know.”

“Jinks,” Jonghyun warned from behind, and when he circled back, he found the man’s cautioning stare and his eyebrows raised expectantly. “What did we _just_ talk about?”

Looking back and forth between the two, he took a moment before sighing, grasping one last hug from Taemin before nodding, actively pushing away the negative emotions. “Okay, okay, I get it. I’ll stop, I promise.” He then released the youngest, who squeezed his hand sweetly before rushing over to Minho and Jonghyun, dishing out the vast amount of ddukbokkie he’d bought and passing the pay check he’d received over to Kibum.

Jinki faced their guests, beckoning to the two who were still holding tightly onto Jungkook once more, a soft smile gracing his features. “Jin, Namjoon, if you will,” he said. Their lips turned up in response, humming to show they’d heard and shuffled to address their youngest, the others already having moved to join those near the sofa with the prospect of food.

Jin caught Jungkook’s face within his palms and lifted his gaze up so that they were eyelevel with each other. Namjoon’s fingers rooted on the youngest’s shoulders provided an added sense of comfort and safety, Jungkook feeling less tense as Jin spoke to him.

“We’ll only be gone for a few minutes, Kookie, alright?” he said warmly, giving one cheek a gentle stroke with his thumb affectionally. “I promise that we’ll come back as quick as we can and then all of us can cuddle before bed, yeah? Does that sound alright?”

Jungkook nodded his head, a tiny smile growing on his face despite the clenching of his hands.

“Hey,” Namjoon reassured, squeezing the nape of the youngest’s neck lovingly. “It’s okay to be nervous, Kook. This is a new environment for you, so if anything I’d be worried if you weren’t a little scared of us wandering off without you.”

Another nod was given, Jungkook’s voice becoming lodged deep within his throat at the prospect of meeting so many new people alone. “Taehyung will help introduce you,” the leader continued, practically reading his thoughts (after the nightmare fiasco, Jungkook began to wonder if he had), but simmering his worries down for the time being.

“Just stick with your hyungs and you’ll be fine, sweetheart,” Jin tacked on, but his shimmering eyes betrayed his uneasiness. “If you have any issues or just feel too uncomfortable, shout for us or get one of the others to come and get us, okay? We’ll just be down the hall.”

“Okay, hyung,” Jungkook finally murmured, a minor frown painting his lips, however his skin was tinged pink with the doting words used by the two elders.

“Promise?” Namjoon asked, drawing his gaze once more.

Jungkook nodded firmly. “I promise, Joonie-hyung.”

Jin grinned, ruffling the youngest’s hair adoringly before planting a light kiss on his forehead, Namjoon following suit, making Jungkook scrunch up his nose like a rabbit (a habit they all relished).

Jinki thought the sight was endearing, although it was made more so when he overheard Minho’s quiet laugh from across the room and a silent whisper of, “ _See, so whipped_ ,” sent in their direction, erupting a chorus of giggles from the group.

“All right, come on Kookie!” Taehyung yelled cheerfully, bounding over and pulling the younger out from the others’ grasp, his box smile contagious and encouraging a grin to spread across Jungkook’s face as Tae dragged him towards the rest of the residents, ready to make sure that everybody knew each other to at least friendship level by the end of the night.

The ddukbokkie had already been split, three servings set to the side in advance, and Jungkook wedged himself between Jimin and Yoongi with Taehyung plonking down against Hoseok, already dashing for his chopsticks to tuck in.

“ _Okay!_ ” Tae announced, enthusiasm overflowing in his rich voice. “ _So, Kookie, this here is Minho-hyung, he is very tall and despite his deep caring nature for others, he also really enjoys making out with people as you probably saw from earlier…_ ”

 _And_ that was Jinki’s cue to leave, shaking his head with a breathy laugh as he heard Taehyung squawk when Minho thwacked him, striding away with Namjoon and Jin blindly following his footsteps after a final fleeting glance at the circle of people sat in the dining room.

He led Jin and Namjoon away from the noise the others were making, swiftly turning towards the room marked ‘ _Private_ ’ at the end of the downstairs hallway. He could decipher from their stiff posture that they were both quite confused and unsure about why he’d pulled them out so early into their visit, but knew better than to ask questions when he’d properly explain once they were away from any listening ears.

Once they reached the doorway, Jinki halted however, licking his lips apprehensively and turning his head to peer back at the two. “You aren’t going to like what I’m about to show you,” he warned quietly, forcing himself to meet their gazes as he saw their immediate concerned faces. “But I need you to swear to me that you’ll remain quiet and allow me to speak.”

Jin was the first to snap out of his stupor, shaking his head slightly, eyebrows raised. “Why exactly did you take us two specifically?” he asked cautiously. Honestly, Jin had found it strange the moment Jinki had requested it, because normally when the missions were delivered, it was to Namjoon and Yoongi, Hoseok occasionally joining them if their was a lot of information to take down. And so, the fact that he was here and _not_ Yoongi meant that whatever Jinki knew- it most definitely was not for all to hear.

“We _are_ here to accept another job, right?” Namjoon pitched in, his deep voice hinting a touch of cold wariness, and Jin had to force himself not to flinch at the dark tone that was dripping in.

“Yes, and no,” Jinki replied with an equal amount of force. It was fascinating to watch the two leaders stare each other down, almost like this was the beginning of a wolf fight and they were squaring each other off. Jin, however, could see past the tough exterior, knowing the two friends were merely conveying their twisted version of concern for the other. “I _did_ call you all over so that I could deliver the new mission, one that requires your specific skillset, and I will be going through that with you tomorrow, so do not worry.”

The eldest suddenly took a long, laboured breath, appearing troubled. “However, I also need to discuss your newest charge. Obviously, I need him here to finalise his forms, and after you mentioned him also having an ability whilst we spoke on the phone, I figured we could also use this time to attempt to find out what that is, and possibly how it could be harnessed to our advantage in the future.”

Jin squinted from the choice of words, not liking how Jungkook was already slowly being dragged into their jobs without him even being consulted, or how it started to feel like they were simply using him for whatever his ability indeed was, especially after seeing its strength first hand that first day.

Jungkook deserved better- better than this, better than them- but the elder also knew that this was inevitably their life, and since Jungkook had decided to stay with them, he was bound to become involved at least a little bit at some point, one way or another, from the very moment Hoseok, Yoongi and Taehyung had decided to bring him back with them.

Jin just hoped that they could shield him from the majority of their life- no matter what his ability turned out to be. Jungkook deserved _that_ , in the least, after all he’d been through.

“However,” Jinki continued, steeling his voice for the words ahead, and the other two subconsciously tensed in trepidation. “There is one more thing that concerns Jungkook, that I felt you two, at least, should be made aware of.” Namjoon nodded his head to signal him to continue as he steeled himself. “After reading your report, Joon, on the previous mission you conducted, and learning of the abusive nature the target clearly displayed, I had Kibum and Minho do one final search of the house before I tied off all the loose ends to avoid suspicion.”

As he said this, Jinki twirled away from them and carefully opened the door into the room, only allowing enough space for the two to fit through one at a time, and gestured for them to enter.

They did so slowly, if only to try and settle the racing nerves flying beneath their skin, and after they were all inside Jinki shut the entrance closed once again, gesturing to the object that had instantly caught the other two’s attention. “Kibum found this stashed behind one of the hollow walls, and thought it necessary to bring back so I could decide the necessary action to take.”

Placed on top of the wooden table in the centre of the room, was a square metal box. The dim light from above shone down upon it, luminating the firm steel and what appeared to be a small hook attached to one side, similar to those one would connect a chain to. When Jin inspected closer, moving around slightly, he noticed a slit riding directly down the entire middle of the container, coming to an end at the bottom where a medium sized hole had been carved into the surface of the box.

If he was being completely honesty, Jin didn’t quite understand, not being involved in the gang for as long as some of his boyfriends had, and so hadn’t been exposed to the varying ways of how truly sadistic some people could be.

Namjoon, on the other hand, looked sick.

“I don’t think I’m following,” Jin said carefully, gaze flicking between the two people in the room. “What exactly is it?”

Jinki opened his mouth to answer, but before he could, Namjoon made a quiet, distorted choking sound, snapping everyone’s attention to him. “It’s a head box,” he ground out, head facing the floor.

Now, there were many devices that Jin had heard of, many he’d seen first-hand in fact, but a _head box_ was not one that was stored in his personal inventory.

His face must have betrayed his confusion, because Namjoon merely sighed, suddenly looking a lot older than he actually was, and went to lift up the box after a simple confirmation nod from the eldest. “This hole here,” he sighed, referencing to the circular carving, voice deeper than normal in resignation. “Is where the person’s head goes. You open it up like this-" Namjoon demonstrated as he went, heaving apart the two sides which the slit separated, before shifting it and clamping it shut once more, “-direct it around the person’s head, and shut it closed over them, effectively trapping their head within the box. It blocks out all light, and most people who’ve been subjected to it typically tend to experience claustrophobia on a higher level than your average person. From what I’ve seen, at least.”

Jin gulped back the faint sense of bile in his throat, blinking rapidly. “And you’re saying… that this _thing_ was used on Kookie? _Our_ Jungkook?”

Jinki grimaced sympathetically, but hummed in agreement all the same. “I believe so,” he replied, treading over and delicately removed the box from Namjoon’s stiff hands, placing it back down onto the table. “I’m unsure as to how many times it was used, but after understanding what this particular device is for, I felt that it was best that you both know the extent of which Jungkook has gone through. I know the six of you will take care of him well regardless, however I wished to provide some insight, in the least, as a way of help.”

Namjoon’s green face from earlier no longer seemed inappropriate, Jin himself now struggling to fully control the vicious swirling inside his stomach, the mere thought of Jungkook (sweet, kind, _innocent_ Jungkook) having to go through all of that alone- withstand such traumatic hardship and yet still come out kicking- was filling him with a strange sense of conjoined dread and pride.

A large, sturdy hand slid into his own, Namjoon’s soft skin a reassurance against the upsetting waves threatening to crash over him, and Jin finally managed to give a weak smile to his boyfriend. “We’re going to help him, right?” he whispered fretfully.

“We are,” Namjoon confirmed with a squeeze of the palm, his sudden calm demeanour and voice working wonders to settle the disconnected thoughts roaming inside his head, but then again, it always did.

“Good,” Jinki responded, pulling their attention back to him. “Actually, you can return to them all now if you’d like. I was going to go through the new job I have for you tomorrow anyway once everybody is properly settled in.” The eldest smiled kindly, his hands stuffed into his pockets, looking slightly uncomfortable again when the other two bowed to him.

“Thank you, Jinki-hyung,” Namjoon replied, dimples returning to his cheeks despite the minor agitation present from waiting for a sign that it was okay for them to go. “I appreciate you telling us about this.”

“So we can leave now?” Jin asked, eyes darting to the entrance with hopeful eyes. Jinki simply laughed more, shoulders shaking a little.

“I already said yes! Go,” he ushered, shooing them out of the door, following at a slower pace as he watched Jin practically drag Namjoon away at a terrifying speed. He knew that if the tables were flipped, he’d be moving just as quickly as they were; if he found out that any of his boyfriends had been subjected to that level of torture, there probably wouldn’t be much of the city left once his rage had settled.

With that thought, he found his feet quickening to join the others, welcoming the sight of Namjoon back-hugging a bewildered Jungkook with Jin latching onto his hand, the remainder of their group merely sitting there half amused and half confused themselves, however merely shrugging to themselves as if this was normal behaviour for them.

Jinki himself dropped down beside Kibum, the younger instantly leaning closer into him with one leg already draped lazily across Jonghyun’s lap. Taemin grinned from his other side, eyes crinkling and soft black hair flopping down against his forehead, making Jinki want to reach over and brush it back with his hand.

Except now he’d practically accepted most of Kibum’s weight, a portion of ddukbokkie thrust into his hands from Taemin, and his two youngest boyfriends struck back up their conversation with Hoseok, leaving him unable to do anything besides from eat his dinner before bed and watch it all happen.

Tomorrow was most likely going to be hectic, with planning and a much-needed proper conversation with Jungkook ahead of them, but for now Jinki was quite content with fondly watching Jonghyun play with Kibum’s fingers, drawing random patterns and shapes into his skin, and allow the sleepy feeling to roll over him as he ate, chasing away the last of his worries.

Tomorrow was another time.

* * *

A harsh scream piercing the air jolted everybody awake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp. It's been three months. *cowers behind fort of pillows* Oops? Okay, no, seriously I am sorry for leaving this story for so long, it was never my intention and I feel bad about it when there are loads of you who enjoy it (500+ Kudos?! Can I cry?)
> 
> To be honest, I realised a little too late that I needed a break from writing, especially after I didn't feel overly happy with how chapter 4 turned out for some reason, and by the time I realised, I was already in the throws of writer's block and hadn't written anything for weeks. Luckily, I think my writing voice has finally returned to me, which means I can start writing more again (thank fuck), and already have started writing again (thank bigger fuck).
> 
> On a slightly related note, I actually started writing a two-shot within this Universe, set around a year after this book's planned events occur, and I'm tempted to post it? The first chapter is basically pure angst, the second one major fluff/comfort, and it doesn't give any spoilers away about this book (except for the fact that they all get together and Jimin's ability- which may or may not be revealed next chapter haha). So, I was wondering whether you all would want that after the next chapter is done and published, or whether it should be posted after this book is over (far into the future).
> 
> I have more writing questions to ask next time, because this note is getting too long (curse me and my long author notes). I hope you all enjoyed, and I apologise for leaving for so long- I never want to do that again.
> 
> Peace, V xx

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! If you've made it to the end of this first chapter then I seriously congratulate you, and thank you for reading! I haven't written fanfiction in a while and so I'm still quite rusty at the moment (so I apologise if this was bad).
> 
> Chapter 2 is already 2/3 of the way written, and I should have it posted by next Monday at the latest (fingers crossed). I really hope you enjoyed what I've done so far and continue to enjoy it! 
> 
> I have the majority of the pairings sorted, but I'm really struggling for SHINee because I can't decide whether to do one on one pairings or OT5 or what, so I was wondering if any of you have any preferences- and if so, please tell me down in the comments because I want to look at every possibility for this story! (Also SHINee are getting a goddamn happy ending in this, there is no doubt about that).
> 
> I do really hope you guys enjoyed this! I have other K-Pop stories planned which I'm writing at the same time, so you may see one or two of them soon! Thank you for listening to me babble on, and I will see you all next chapter!（＾∇＾）
> 
> Peace, V


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